GENS ch. 1-8
Assuming that the Earth has no atmosphere, the amount of energy intercepted daily at a location depends on what 2 things? And what controls them
(1) the angle at which the sun's rays strike the Earth, (2) the length of time the location is directly exposed to the rays. Both these are controlled by latitude and time of year.
Long-wave radiation
(4-50 μm) from Earth
negative feedback
(helps to dampen external changes imposed on one system ex. water evaporates from soil, the soil particles hold the remaining water more tightly, and so the rate of evaporation slows
Ozone- why is it singificant and what % of atmosphere? how is it measured?
.000004% absorbs ultraviolet radiation- shields biota from harmful effects measured in Dobson unites
Reasons for confidence in today's GCMs
1) Represent large-scale aspects of today's climate (e.g. climate classification) 2) Show interannual variability typical of climate (e.g. ENSO events) 3) Simulate paleoclimates well under different conditions 4) Reproduce 20th century global temp trends 5) Outputs have improved as our knowledge has
What does global temp pattern yield?
1) Temp ↓ from the equator to the poles 2) Low winter temps for subarctic and Arctic land masses 3) Equatorial temps. that change little annually 4) Large isotherm shifts from Jan to July over mid-latitude and subarctic zone continents 5) Highlands that are colder than their surrounding lowlands 6) Areas of permanent ice and snow 7) Isothermal patterns associated with ocean currents
5 patterns emerge when you compare annual ranges. What are they?
1) as you move from equator to poles, you get extremem differences when comparing seaonal differences- especially for NH 2) Largest ranges occur in the subarctic/arctic zones 3) Moderate on land near the Tropics of Cancer & Capricorn 4) Oceans show less range than over land at the same latitude 5) Range is very small over oceans in the tropical zone-- esentailly very little change over course of the year
IPCC Aims to assess science relevant to
1. Human-induced climate change 2. Impacts of human-induced climate change 3. Options for adaptation & mitigation IPCC Mitigation: reducing impacts of climate change adaptation- how society would responds to changes in envirornment
3 Environmental effects of earths roation
1. imposes daily, diurnal, rhythm on how earth receives solar energy - this influences air temperature, air humidity, and air motion 2. Coriolis Effect causes winds to turn consistently from the expected direction in northern hemisphere winds are reflected to the right in southern hemisphere winds are deflected to the left 3. linked to ocean currents and the diurnal rise and fall of the ocean tides
How do scientists recognize the causes and effects of climate change
1. phyical scientists go out and make direct observations ex.tree rings scientists can collect core and measure growth of tree rings when coditions are favorable, the rings are big 2. Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models (GCMs)
what is the ozone molecule like and how does it behave?
3 oxygen molecules bound together formed, destroyed, and reformed in the ozone lyer oxygen molecule absorbs uv splits into 2 O atoms and a free O atom the free O combines with an O2 to form O3 (ozone) once fromed,ozone can be destroyed y UV radiation, which then dissosicates to form O and O2
If you are ___ yrs old or younger, you have never experienced a month that was colder than that month's global avg of the 20th century. Last below-average month was ______
30 years old February 1985
What is the Albedo for Atmosphere and Earth
30% solar energy reflected
Earths Revoultion around the sun
365.24 days to orbit the sun, which is why we have leap year every 4 years on february 29th
Effects of the Atmosphere on Solar Energy
Absorption Reflection Scattering
absorption
Absorption occurs when molecules and particles in the atmosphere intercept radiation
5 features of GIS
Acquisition preprocessing management analysis output
Key attribute of climate
Affects landscape processes, soil development, permafrost, and the distribution of biota Climate change is recognized as one of the most challenging issues facing society
Cartography
Art and science of map making
How does the IPCC select its authors
Authors are selected based on their expertise recognized by individual governments after a general call to serve. - from dev./undeveloped countries selected to reduce bias and ensure balanced views - mix of women and men, as well as those experienced with IPCC reports and those new to the process - chapter teams comprise coordinators, lead authors and review -editors (those not selected asked as critical reviewers) 831 experts selected from 3,598 nominations
Insolation
Average incoming energy flow, measured in watts per square metre over the course of a 24-hour day, is referred tovas daily insolation (incoming solar radiation). daily received energy intensity from the sun
What type of energy transfer account for vertical transfer of heat in soils, causing them to warm during the summer and cool in winter?
CONDUCTION
Vital elements of the atmosphere- needed to sustain life
Carbon, Hydrogen, OXygen
greenhouse effect
Cloud layers, composed f tiny water droplets produce a blanketing effect because liquid water is a strong absorber of longwave radiation atmosphere traps long wave radiation and returns in to the surface through counter radiation basically The return of outbound long-wave radiation
why is there not a large difference in weather near the equator. what about those living farther north or south of the equator?
Countries that are further North or South of the equator experience a change in seasons, when hot weather follows cold weather. In places near the equator the sun's rays are almost directly overhead thus keeping temperatures high.
Physical geography
Covers atmospheric, terrestrail, and marine enviornments
Solstice
DEC 22 the north pole is inclined at an angle of 23 1/2 degrees away from the sun the south pole is inclined at the same angle toward the sun (winter solstace) june 21 the earth is at oppoiste point in its orbit - maximum solar energy gain for the northern hemisphere ( summer solstice)
Daily Cycle of Air Temperature: explain night and day
Day: insolation exceeds outgoing long-wave radiation, so the net radiation balance is positive = surface warms. Night: net radiation is negative, and the surface temp. falls as longwave energy is lost.( releasing of stored energy) Balance changes due to duration and intensity of the radiation fluxes
double temp
Double temp. = 16-fold increase in radiation emission
What alters lapse rate in the troposphere
During the night, the ground radiates long-wave energy to the atmosphere, net radiation becomes negative, and the surface cools; this in turn cools the overlying air. Under clear, calm conditions, cool, dense air will accumulate at the ground to produce a temp inversion.
electromagnetic spectrum.
Electromagnetic waves of different wavelengths the smaller the wavelength--> the more intense energy that is produced VARIOUS ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION HAS DIFFERENT WAVELENGTHS CAN BE ABSORBED OR SCATTERED DIFFERENTLY WITHIN THE ATMOSPHERE
What forms the global energy balance.
Energy flows among the sun, the atmosphere, the Earth's surface, and space
why would we use Wien's law what does it tell us?
For any radiating body, the λ of peak emission is given by Wien's law (λmax = 2898/T) constant/ absolute temp Tells us that warmer objects radiate energy at shorter λs than cooler objects.
At radiative equilibrium the avg surface temp. would be-18 ºC. BUT Avg. surface temp. is 14 ºC why is this??
GHGs: H2O, CO2 are all absorbers of long-wave radiation Water vapour accounts for 80% of increased temp. above equilibrium. Important GHG.
describe urban heat island
Heat generated in large cities can increase air temps higher than adjacent landscape
what is the relationship between objects (hot & cold) and radiation? and what direction does heat flow?
Hot objects radiate more energy than cooler objects heat always flows from warmer to cooler objects
WHAT IS IPCC
International body for assessing the science related to climate change, using a rigorous and balanced approach: - Established in 1988 by the WMO and UN Environment Program - Updates policymakers on the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and adaptation and mitigation strategies
Latent heat transfer
Latent heat transfer occurs when water evaporates from a surface. Energy must be supplied. This transfers heat from the surface to the atmosphere- mechanism whereby energy is moved across the globe. Conversely, latent heat is released when water vapor reverts to a liquid or solid state. Latent heat transfers involve energy transfers when a body changes state.
what are Latitudinal effect of radiation on temp
Latitudinal variations in insolation drive temp patterns. Temp → represents amount of thermal energy available. Latitudinal effect of radiation on temp earths tilt on the axis leads to strong differences in seasons, expecially at higher latitudes receiving more energy in summer than in the winter
Example from class: Explain Sept 6, 2014: Moncton 30°C, Sackville 21°C
Losses of radiant energy are lower with clear skies (left) than cloudy skies. 9 degrees warmer in moncton than sackville because we have fog and cloud (clouds absord a fair amount of incoming radiation) huge difference because of effects of a cloudy sky on cleae day a lot more solar radiation reaches the ground there still is some absorption and scatering happening
Three types of map projections
Polar Mercator Goode
Name and define the three ways that energy is transferred
Radiation: electromagnetic waves can transfer heat without any other medium (sun burn). Conduction: energy passed from one medium to an adjacent (walking barefoot on pavement). Convection: occurs in fluids and gases, involves mixing (atmosphere,ocean).- main way energy is transferred in the atmosphre
Reflection
Reflection occurs when light strikes a molecule or particle and bounces off.
Scattering
Scattering differs from reflection in that light striking a molecule is redirected in all directions.
Sensible heat transfer
Sensible heat transfers are mixing heat transfers, two particles of air at different temps mix under convection.
aspect
Slope of a surface
two types of circles
Small- are created when a plane passes through the sphere but does not intersect the centre point (think of it like putting a hat on a head) passes trhough surface of sphere but not the centre great circles- constructed so that the plane of intersection with the surface of the sphere passes through the centre of the globe ( divides globe into two equal halves)
counter radiation
Some of the radiation reflected by earth escapes directly to space, while the remainder is absorbed by the atmosphere some radiates downward toward earths surface this downward flow is counter radiation counter radiation depends strongly on the presence of c02 and water vapour in the atmosphere
Geographic Information Systems
Spatial databases rely on computersfor analysis, manipulation, and display of spatial data
how much does energy does society consume compared to the amount that the sun produces?
Sun produces 28,000 times the energy society consumes each year.
Solar Radiation -total solar irradiance.
The Sun's radiant energy that reaches the top of Earth's atmosphere is 1,367 Watts per square metre (Wm-2) ~1400 WATS/M SQUARED = total solar irradiance.
environmental lapse rate
The actual lapse rate at a specific time and location is the
radiation balance
The amount of energy received by the Earth from the atmosphere system equals the amount of energy returned to space
why is the earth an oblate ellipsoid (M&M) shape?
The earth bulges slightly at the equator and flattens at the poles, due to centrifugal force of its rotation
The flow of solar radiation from the sun remains ____, the amount received on Earth ______
The flow of solar radiation from the sun remains constant, the amount received on Earth varies in space and time
music of antrhopogenic climate warming! what can you tell by this music and where was it derived from?
The following music is based on notes that correspond in pitch to NH temps between 1880 and today. youll see how diferent regions or northenr hemisphere has hanged over the century good example of how arts and science can work together to ullustirate hgigh latitude in artic really increased post 1970-s when we saw warning in those high latitudes we will not be able to hear pitch, our ears ownt be able to pick up sound if it rises any more
Stefan-Boltzmann law I=σT4 what is the difference with hotter and cooler surfaces?
The intensity of radiation depends on the temp. raised to the 4th power Hotter surfaces emit more energy than cooler surfaces
LAtitude and Longitude
The location of each point on earth is precisely defined by the latitude and longitude a geographic coordinate system of latitude and longitude gives loacations of points on earths surface as angular distances measured from the centre of the earth with respect to specified planes of reference.
What defines the upper atmosphere
The mesosphere & thermosphere define the upper atmosphere
long wave radiation is emitted by..... and absorbed by...
The surface emits long-wave radiation, which mostly is absorbed by the atmosphere.
What makes up the lower atmosphere.
The troposphere & stratosphere
hydrosphere
The water is the worlds largest component! lakes, rivers, glacier ice, as well as water present in the atmosphere, such as ice crystals and water droplets
describe evapotranspiration
Water is taken up by plant roots and moved to the leaves, where it is lost to the atmosphere through transpiration (cools leaf surface). Water also evaporates from the soil, again cooling the surface
explain Land and Water Contrasts
Water: 1) insolation penetrates deeper into water 2)Water heats slowly due to high specific heat of water - takes 5 x as much heat to raise water to 1oC than for soil 3) There is more evaporation in water- this is how energy is dissipated 4) there is mixing of warm and cold waters (convective mixing) Land: 1) no penetration of radiation (concentrated on ground) 2) Land heats quickly (low specific heat) 3) less evaporation 4) no mixing
Open flow system
a river is an open flow system because there are inputs and outputs of energy and matter.
temp inversion
a thin layer of the atmosphere where the normal decrease in temperature with height switches to the temperature increasing with height. An inversion acts like a lid, keeping normal convective overturning of the atmosphere from penetrating through the inversion.
stratosphere
air becomes warmer with altitude. Extends to ~50 km above the Earth's surface. Strong winds (jet streams) occur in the lower stratosphere; they are linked to motion of weather systems in the troposphere. Stratosphere contains the ozone layer. Responsible for absorbing UV light emitted by the sun. This is why it warms with altitude
albedo (NOT LIBIDO)
albedo- reflectivity of surface proportion of solar energy reflected upward from a surface. the higher- the more light refLective snow and lighter areas reflect more lIght
When water condenses,
an equivalent amount of energy is released, warming the surface
w GCMs provide strong evidence of ____ warming
anthropogenic
Air Pollutants
any unwanted substence injected into the atmosphere from earths surface by either natural or human activities all play a role in how energy is transfered in the atmosphere chemistry of percipitation**
particulates
are larger, heavier prticles that eventually fall back to the earth
Why does altitude and aspect matter with respect to air temp and isolation?
aspect impacts how radiation is received in air temperature -the orientation with respect to incoming radiation (slope) According to temperature change with altitude, seven different layers can be identified in the atmosphere south facing slope vs north facing slopes narth facing slopes-- worse vegetation does better on south because its warmer vs the north face
Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models (GCMs) what are they and wh are they important
attribute observations to particular causes these models show us various observation in climate system--> what are potential drivers of these changes can be used to predict what we can expect climate to be like important for policy makers- so they can deelp policy to either reduce this from happening or adaptations GCMs are mathematical representations of the Earth's atmosphere-ocean-land system run on supercomputers: based on physical laws and theory - estimate climate response to boundary conditions - similar to models of weather prediction
solar irradiance
because half the earth s in darkness and radiant energy from the sun is not spread evenly over the illuminated hemisphere, mean total solar irradiance is effectively reduced from 1.367 M/m2 to 340 w/m2
Angles and Solar Irradiance
because half the eath is in darkness and radiant energy from the sun is not spread evenly over the illuminated hemisphere, mean total solar irradiance is effectively reduced form 1,367W /M2 -> 340W/M2 sunlight across the sphere when angle is tilted is spread over greater surface area, thus decreasing intensity of the beam - think of flashlight beaming across roun surface
Significance of Sudbury, ON Hint: Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do." Ronald Reagan, 1981
because of iron or smelting occurring in area, it used to be a wasteland very little vegetation was able to exist metals released from smelting damages the system now it is a region where landscapes have recovered from landscape deposition 20 years later--> because of emission controls, the situation has greatly approved for terrestrial and aquatic systems
An emaciated trout from an artificially acidified lake in the Experimental Lakes Area, ON, Canada. what did they find why is it important
billion dollar fisherie in canada this is a fish that grew in lake impacted by acid precipitation--> growth, physiology and prey items availabe for fish an example of effects of pollution on more than just terrestrial landscape
black dots of land area
black dots on figure-- if we were to take these and convert this areas, we would be able to provide all our energy needs perfect emitters and absorbers of radiation
Meteorology and Climatoglogy
both concerned with the atmosphere
World time zones
broken up into meridians
polar projectionas
can be centered on iether the north or south pole. meridians are straight lines radiating outward from the pole, and parallels are nested circles centred on the pole. shows true shape of small areas distorts egdes when able to connect 2 point and form a circle, it provides the shortest distance between 2 points
Global Positioning System
can provide location information o an accuracy of about 10 M horizontaly and 15 m verticaly
why is the Daily temp cycle less pronounced at coastal than interior.
can see difference over same period of time one on coast one on interior less range of air temperatures compared to the other
Geographic Information Sstem
contains software to acquire process, store, query, create, analyze, and display spatial data. Pieces of information that are in some way associated with a specific location or area of the Earth's surface
Earth's rotation
counter clockwise turning of the earths axis. the earth completes one rotation around the sun every day
Meteorology
deals with the process that cause short term fluctuations in properties of the atmosphere that for the basis of daily weather reports. "what you get" determines weather
Global Time Systems
derived from the geographic grid, but with additonal component of eaths rotation based on sun and its apparent passage across the sky
Flow systems
describes how matter and energy move over space and time they have a structure of interconnected pathways need a power source
climatology
describes the result of the process of meteorology in terms of their variability in space and time Also concerned with climate change, both past and future What yo expect very broad and long term
On a "global" scale
earth is a nearly spherical planet, its shape affects how land and water surfaces absorb the sun's energy
standard tine system
earth is divided into 24 time zones daylight saving " spring ahead" happens in the NH this is not done as frequently near the equator (SH) this has to do with the relative amount of daylight across the season
Aphelion
earth is furthest away from the sun july 4th 152.26 m km nh pointed toward the sun
Earths tilt
earths axis is tilted with respect to the plane of the ecliptic - the plane circumscribed by the earths obrit around the sun
Realms (4)
encompass major components of the earth: (4) Atmosphere Lithosphere hydrosphere biosphere
Biosphere
encompasses all of earths living organisms. Most of biosphere is contained in the life layer, which also includes lands, lakes, and upper 100 m of ocean and seas
Is energy ever created/destroyed?
energy is not created or desitryed, its just transferred, and eventually equilibrium is reached
kinetic enrgy
energy of mass in motion, and is expressed as 1/2 VM2
aerosols
extremely small particles that float freely with normal air movements
individual scale
finest level- landscape features for ex. grassy sand dune in a dessert
Electromagnetic radiation
form of energy transported from the sun to the Earth) is characterized by its wavelength (l) and frequency (f).
atmosphere
gaseous layer that surrounds the earth receives heat and moisture from the surface, redistributes them globally, reutrns some heat and all moisture to the surface of the earth
what can be included as "air pollutants"?
gases, aerosols, nd particles
Absorption of radiation
happens when molecules and particled in the atmosphere intercept radiation at particular wavelengths
Discuss Carbon Dioxide Variations and the effects of the industrial revolution
hough time we have radically changed the portion of greenhouse gasses never used to be above 300 parts per million until recently (industrial revolution) now 395400 parts per million depending on meansurements being made at the time out of the bounds than what anyone would consider normal nothing normal about this pattern
The surface energy balance equation for land describes
how net radiation, latent heat, and sensible heat flows are balanced through conduction and convection.
Specific heat why is water special?
is the amount of heat per unit mass required to raise the temperature of a substance by 1 °C. water has 5x as much specific heat as the same amount of rock this makes it slower to react to changes--> thats why it stores a lot of energy Water stores a lot of energy!
geomorphology
is the science of earth surface processes and landforms. The combined influence of human and natural factors is constantly altering earths surface. eg. water, wind, waves, glaciers, etc. look at why dynamic evironments continually change
Why do we care about Specific Heat capacity of water?
it's a big deal because organisms if water behaved like air, there would be massive temp changes that organismsm couldnt handle you would have differnt situtaions that organisms such as fish couldnt reposnd to the density differences is also important (ice can float on liquid)
SOLAR ENERGY The need for alternative energy will ↑ as fossil fuel costs rise & resource availability ↓. What are reasonable choices? What factors are not considered? Do you think this would be an easy change for society?
its VERY expensive to install it costs even more to operate and keep it running the infrastructure that our economy has put down is already set on doing it in certain ways and we cant just shift energy infrastructure ex. some places around the wrold are set on using fossil fuels and other alternatives dont want to just change off its a very difficult process
Global Air Temp Patterns what are the 3 factors determine global temp patterns
latitude, marine continental location, and altitude.
equaor
lies midway between the North pole and South pole- earths longest parallel
Troposphere what lies next to this?
lowest layer, contains 80% of its total mass (mostly water vapor). Zone of life and weather. It's thickest in the equatorial and tropical regions (~16 km) and thinnest at the poles (~6 km) - (due to the rotation of the Earth and thermal expansion in the warmer zones) next lies the stratosphere
Short-wave radiation-
main energy emitted by sun (visible UV and infrared- 0.2 to 4.0 mm). In the atmosphere, λs are absorbed, reflected or scattered by molecules and dust.
Carbon in thr atmosphere what %does it make and why is it important?
make up 0.0360% we care about it because f what it does to radiationits important to reduce
longitude
measure angular distance east or west of the prime meridian
Atmosphere and radiation absorption explain how different gasses behave
methane absorbs a fair amount of incoming radiation same with Nitrous Oxide oxygen and ozone pick up UV-Avc- that harm organsisms some of most important GreenhouseGasses- co2 and water vaopour absorb radiation at longer wavelenghts Shorter λs nearly all absorbed by O2 and ozone. Greenhouse gases tend to absorb longer λs.
Atmoshpere
mixture of gasses
local scale
more detailed assessments of species distribution
regional scale
observations can be used to distinguish vegetation patterns
Equinox
occurs midway between the date of solstices at this time the earth axial tilt is neither toward nor away from the sun. the orientation of earth with the sun is identical during the two equinoxes
positive feedback
occurs when some factor increases the effect. water falling on slope starts to erode small channels or rills. with each rainstorm, the rills captures more water and so it becomes enlarged, directing more and more water into the channel, leading to the creation of large gullies.
dynamics of flow systems: Feedback
occurs when the flow in one pathway acts either to reduce or increase the flow in another pathway.
Lithosphere
outermost layer of the earth - sculpted into landfors, such as mountains, hills, and plains. shallow layer of lithosphere is also comprised of soil, in which nutrients are available to organisms.
two types of circles on geographic grid
parallells- divide the globe crosswise into a series of circles arranged perpendicular to the polar axis HAMBURGER Meridians- divide the globe from pole to pole HOTDOG
LAtitude
parallels of latitude measure the angular distance north or south of the equator in NH the latitude ranges from 0 - 90 degrees North at the North pole in SH , latitude increases to 90 degrees at south pole
Short wave radiation emitted by.. and absorbed by...
passes through the atmosphere and is absorbed at the surface.
Cryosphere
portion of hydrosphere- continental ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, permafrost
MAthematical modelling and statistics in Geography
powerful approach to understanding both natural and human phenomenon stats provide methods to analyze geographic data to assess differences, trends, and patterns
Maritime vs continental (prairies) this class exmaple compared these two places as one was near water and the other wasnt. what was the significance of this class example
prairies- continental location not much water close by Because water heats/cools more slowly than land, air temps near water are less extreme
Mercator Projection
rectangular grid with meridians shown as straight vertical lines, and parallels as straight horizontel lines. meridians are evenly spaced, but spacing between parallels increases with latitude and at 60 degrees is double that at the equator closer at poles the spacing increases even more by using this, a navigator can determine the direction to travel by drawing a line between the starting point and destination and measuring the angle with respect to north
chlorofluorocarbons CFC's
release of CFC;s into the atmosphere poses aserious threat ti the ozone layer. they are synthetic industrial chemical compounds conatinng chlorine, fluorine, and carbon atoms
continental scale
resulting weather and climate patterns that can be readily distinguished
Challenge for geogrpahy
separating our actions/impacts from natural processes/disasters (such as heavy rain and erosion)
why is the earths axis of rotation important?
serves as a reference in setting up a system of longitudinal and latitudinal points on a GPS
power source in natural flow systems
shortwave ebergy flowing from the sun to the earth, and the outward flow of heat from earths interior
polar Gnomonic projections
shows distorted continents at edges spaces of meridians and parallels distort the land
Map
shows point, line or area data locations, connections, and regions the scale of a map links the actual ground distance between places with the represented distanace on the map
temperature gradient
spatial variation in temp/directional change.
geographic grid
spherical coordinate system used to determine the location of features on the earths surface. it is constructed from two sets of intersecting circles
Dynamics of flow systems: Equilibrium
steady conditions in which the flow rates in system pathways do not change
Biogeography
study of distribution of organisms and the process that produce these spatial patterns may look at what determines the distribution of species in space and time
biodiversity
the assessment of the richness of life and life forms on earth The present global-scale distribution of life forms in the earths major biomes provide the context for biodiversity
what are seasons caused by
the earths tilt- angle of the earth relative to the sun
what latitude is the equator given and why
the equator is gien a latitide of 0 degrees- it is the only parallel that is a great circle
What Causes spatial differences in annual insolation & determines daily air temps discuss picture from p.3.14 (the one with light and dark purple colours AKA what causes climate
the process we see illustrated in figure 3.14 is the difference between hemisphere and equator across season, which determines climate and temperatures its the tilt of the earth that leads to this difference
how do interconnected pathways work in flow systems? give example from cloud pathway
the reflection of solar energy from the top of cloud is a pathway that turns the flow of solar energy back toward space. in pathways, their connections, and the types of matter and/or energy that flow within it represents systems components
closed system (also known as material cycle)
the system's flowing materials move endlessly in a series of interconnected paths or loops ex. carbon cycle and hydrologic cycle
Differences in lapse rates can be used to define.....
to define layers of the atmosphere: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, & thermosphere. properties of layered temperature are what cause the lapse rate
Temps remain constant in _____, but marked seasonal contrasts occur at _____!
tropics higher latitudes
remote sensing
used in GIS - AIRCRAFT and spacecraft provide images of earths surface
goode projection
uses two sets of mathematical curves to form its meridian represents areas in correct proportion to the earths surface. used to show regional distributions of geographical features, such as the soils and vegetation that occur in different parts of the world distorts shape, particularly in high latitudes this effect is minimized by separating the map into sectors, each centered on different vertical meridians.
Weather and the equator
what you get has to do with radiation imbalances heat that is absorbed needs to be transferred to other areas of the world energy imbalance and transfer of radiation from equator to northern hemisphere
Perhelion
when earth is nearest to the sun Jan 3 147.7 M KM but north hemisphere is pointed away so its still cold for us.
why is CFC bad?
when released into the atmosphere, molecules absorb uv radiation and decompose into chlorine oxide CLO molecules- this breaks down molecules of the ozone, converting them to oxygen molecules, decreasing ozone concentration
lapse rate what is the standard lapse rate?
when you increase altitude theres a disctint temperate change On avg., temp. decreases at a rate of 6.4 °C per 1,000 m.
Does where you measure temp matter
yes it does! Variation is greatest at the surface, less at the standard recording height (1.25-2.0 m). Heat from the soil moves by conduction upward and downward. Thus, the deeper soil layers warm and cool over the course of each day.
Remote sensing image. Pink & purple denote little vegetation explain how this happens
you can get a build up of acidic substances during the winter which move into fresh water and lead to degradation--> lowering PH and have dramatic consequences Little vegetation can be due to effects of smelting and release of particulates leading to acid rain