Earth Science 113/114B - Unit 1 Study Guide

What is El Niño and what happens during El Niño?

a natural event of the warming of the climate. During an El Nino year, the trade winds near the equator move from west to east-opposite from normal years & last long enogh to spread warm water eastward to across the Pacific Ocean

What is upwelling and why is it important?

a process in which cold water from the deep ocean flows upward & brings tiny organisms, minerals, and nutrients.

What happens to the incoming solar radiation after it is reflected off the surface of the earth (include what happens to wavelength).

some of the radiation is directly absorbed & some of it it reflected back to space. Duing this process, the wavelengths get shorter.

Climate

the average weather conditions in an area; the weather conditions in an area over time (year-to-year)

Weather

the conditions in the atmosphere at a particualr place and time (day-to-day)

The Greenhouse Effect

the process in which the absorbtion of short wave radiation by the atmosphere heats up a planet

Dendrochronology

the study of tree ring growth to infer past climates

What information does Dendrochronology give scientists in terms of climates and how climates have changed?

the thickness of the tree rings determines how much moisture the tree got

What impact do Chloroflurorocarbons have on the atmosphere?

they can destroy the ozone layer, thus reducing the protection it offers the earth from the sun's harmful UV rays

Greenhouse gases

Gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor, and ozone in the atmosphere which are involved in the greenhouse effect.

Why is the Greenhouse Effect necessary to sustain life on Earth

During the night, temperatures would be hundreds of degrees below zero & during the day, temperature would soar hundreds of degrees above zero. No plant of animal could be able to survive, water would not exist, and the smount of radiation reaching the planet from the sun would be intense.

How could an asteroid impact have led to the extinction of dinosaurs?

Large meteorite impacts can send dust into the atmosphere, where it blocks energy from the Sun and causes cooler temperature

What factors do we look at to classify climate zones

Temperature, precipitation, vegetation

How does El Nino begin? What impact does it have on people?

Weak trade winds and weak upwelling cause warm waters off the coast of South America. El Nino causes destruction with water, tornadoes, and volcanoes

What is La Niña and what happens during La Niña?

an event in which temperatures are cooler than normal in the central & eastern pacific ocean Cooling of the water in the Pacific Ocean Less Precipitation Decreased Humidity Unusually cold weather in Alaska Unusually warm weather in the rest of the USA Drought in the southwest Higher than normal number of hurricanes in the Atlantic

What are the biomes of earth

desert, polar, tundra, grassland, rain forest, boreal forest, deciduous forest

Climate zones

divisions of the Earth's climates into general climate zones according to average temperatures and average rainfall.

What happens when there is a lack of upwelling?

fish either die or migrate to other parts of the ocean which causes an impact on the seabird population and the fishing industry

Chlorofluorocarbons

gases used for refrigeration that destroy ozone

Where are greenhouse gases found?

in the atmosphere

What impact can a very large volcanic eruption have on earth's climate?

large volcanic eruptions can send ash high into the atmosphere where it is picked up by global wind currents and transported around the world. The ash blocks energy from the Sun and causes cooler global temperatures. Volcanoes also add carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide creates a warmer climate, but the overall effect of a large volcanic eruption is climate cooling.