ap human unit 1

Air thins

Air thins

absorbs less heat

Are u slay 😻

yes 😌(unless im aanya)

Axis

An imaginary line that passes through Earth's center and the North and South poles, about which Earth rotates

Chapparal

temperate coastal biome dominated by dense evergreen shrubs

climate

Overall weather in an area over a long period of time

climate regions

Areas of the world with similar climatic characteristics

Coastal volcanic mountain ranges

Oceanic continental convergent

coniferous trees

trees that produce their seeds in cones and have leaves shaped like needles

Continental divergent

Valleys volcanoes lakes and seas

continental divergent boundary

Continental crust/plate diverges (pulls apart) and creates rift valleys

continental-continental convergence

happens where 2 continental plates collide and push up creating mountain ranges

Continental-Oceanic Convergence

Oceanic crust goes under the continental crust, creating a subduction zone

Continentality

effect of extreme variation in temperature and very little precipitation within the interior portions of a landmass

Convection

The transfer of thermal energy by the circulation or movement of a liquid or gas

convergent boundary

A tectonic plate boundary where two plates collide, come together, or crash into each other.

Coriolis effect

Move clockwise in N hemisphere and counterclockwise in S hemisphere

Crust

The thin and solid outermost layer of the Earth above the mantle

Cultural Ecology

Geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships.

cyclone

a storm with heavy rains and high winds that blow in a circular pattern around an area of low atmospheric pressures

deciduous

Trees and shrubs that shed their leaves at the end of the growing season

desert climate

dry climate that receives less than 10 inches of rainfall per year; Desert climates are areas where the rainfall is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or only very scanty scrub

Desert, Steppe, Highlands

3 climate regions occur in any latitude zone

divergent boundary

A plate boundary where two plates move away from each other.

Doldrums

a frequently windless area near the Equator

drought-resistant

able to store water and hence tolerate long periods of time without water

Earth's Layers

crust, mantle, outer core, inner core

Earth's Revolution

365 days (1 year)

Earth's Tilt

23 and a 1/2 degrees

El Niño and La Niña (Southern Oscillation (ENSO))

(its long but bear w me) large-scale weather phenomenon occurs every few years when prevailing winds in the tropical Pacific Ocean weaken and change direction o Above-average warming of Pacific waters affects populations of marine species by changing the distribution of plant nutrients, hurting fishing industry o Low nutrients, low dissolved oxygen (in South America, but in Australia during La Niña) o Severe flooding, storms, drought, mudslides, $ damage, human health hazards (dehydration, diarrhea, zoonotic diseases [lyme, Hanta])

Elevation

The height of land above sea level

Elevation does not care about

Latitude

Elevation increases

temperature decreases

environmental determinism

the view that the natural environment has a controlling influence over various aspects of human life including cultural development

Erosion

The process by which wind, water, ice, or gravity transports soil and sediment from one location to another

evergreen trees

trees that retain their leaves throughout the winter

Fall Equinox

in the Northern Hemisphere this occurs on September 22 or 23; in the Southern Hemisphere this occurs on March 20 or 21. The earth is tilted sideways toward the sun so the hours of daylight and darkness are equal in both hemispheres.

Fault lines, earthquakes

Transform boundary

Glacial Weathering

Glaciers and avalanches can cause weathering as ice and rock interact.

Greenhouse effect

Too much heat escapes = freezes Too much heat trapped = dry out Essentially the natural effect is more heat escaping to space but humans made it where more heats re-emitted so less heat is escaping into space (global warming)

greenhouse effect

warming that results when solar radiation is trapped by the atmosphere

high latitudes

• areas north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle; also know as polar zone (60-90 degrees latitude near the hemispheres)

highland climate

Cool to cold climates found in mountains and on high plateaus. The climate changes as altitude changes. (Elevation makes it timberline)

horse latitudes

Near tropics, makes most of worlds deserts

Human Adaptation

any alteration in the structure or function of an organism or any of its parts that results from natural selection and by which the organism becomes better fitted to survive and multiply in its environment.

Human Modification

the changes that humans make to the natural environment in order to live comfortably in the environments

Humid Continental

a climate or climate zone with warm, rainy summers and cool, snowy winters (NEW YORK, CHICAGO)

humid subtropical climate

located in the middle latitudes, a warm and moist climate on coastal areas north and south of the tropics that receive warm ocean currents and warm winds year round (TEXAS)

hurricane

A severe storm that develops over tropical oceans and whose strong winds of more than 120 km/h spiral in toward the intensely low-pressure storm center

ice wedging

Process that splits rock when water seeps into cracks, then freezes and expands.

Icecap climate

the type of climate found in Earth's polar regions (ANTARCTICA, GREENLAND)

inner core

A dense sphere of solid iron and nickel at the center of Earth

leeward side

side of mountain that gets very little precipitation and can be desert like (the side that remains dry)

lichen

An organism made of a fungus and either algae or autotrophic bacteria that live together in a mutualistic relationship.

low latitudes

• areas between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn; also known as tropics (near the equator)

major lines of latitude

Equator (0), Tropic of Cancer (23.5 N), Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 S), Arctic Circle (66.5 N), Antarctic Circle (66.5 S), North Pole (90 N), South Pole (90 S)

Mantle

The layer of hot, solid material between Earth's crust and core.

marine west coast climate

A moderate climate with cool summers and mild winters that is heavily influenced by maritime conditions. Such climates are usually found on the west coasts of continents between the latitudes from 45 to 50 degrees.

Mediterranean Climate Zone

Characterized by long dry Summers and cool, wet Winters. This causes the vegetation zone known as Chaparral. Mediterranean climate zones are found at Mid-Latitudes regions such as around the Mediterranean Sea, southern California and the east coast of South Africa.

mid latitudes

areas between 30-60* latitude where winds are determined by high and low pressure systems

Moraines

A mound, ridge, or mass of material that were left on the ground by a receding glacier.

Mountain ranges

Continental convergent

North atlantic drift

an ocean current that brings warm, moist air across the Atlantic Ocean

ocean currents

Global patterns created from the movement of the oceans; such as the Gulf Stream

oceanic divergent boundary

As oceanic plates pull apart, sea-floor spreading occurs

oceanic-oceanic convergence

happens where 2 oceanic plates push against one another, causing the colder, denser, older plate to buckle up and sink into the mantle. Hot magma comes from where the plate sank, creating new crust.

outer core

the liquid layer of the Earth's core that lies beneath the mantle and surrounds the inner core

Plate Tectonic Theory

the theory that the lithosphere is broken up into large plates that move and then rejoin; considered the unifying theory of geology

plate tectonics

A theory stating that the earth's surface is broken into plates that move.

Possibilism

The theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives.

rain shadow effect

Precipitation falls on the windward side of a mountain range, resulting in lush vegetation & a warm, moist climate on one side, but a desert area on the leeward side.

Savannah

a flat grassland in tropical or subtropical regions

Seasons

Tilt + revolution

semiarid climate

hot summers, less than 10 inches of annual rainfall

Spring Equinox

March 20th or 21st in the Northern Hemisphere, when both hemispheres recieve 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness

Steppe

A large area of flat unforested grassland in southeastern Europe or Siberia.

subarctic climate

Long, cold winters and short summers with limited precipitation characterize this high-latitude climate (CANADA, RUSSIA, ETC)

subduction boundary

a convergent boundary where an oceanic plate is plunging beneath another, overriding plate

subduction zones found near

convergent boundaries

Summer Solstice

Day with the most hours of sunlight and the fewest hours of darkness, June 21st in the Northern Hemisphere

Timberline

elevation above which it is too cold for trees to grow

transform boundary

The boundary between tectonic plates that are sliding past each other horizontally

tropical rainforest

Forests in which rainfall is abundant - more that 200 cm (80 in) per year - and temperatures are warm or hot year-round

Tropical wet

Regions that are always hot and humid, with heavy rainfall (at least 6 centimeters/2.4 inches per month) all year round.

tropical wet and dry

Regions that are always hot; alternating wet and dry seasons; heavy rainfall in the wet season.

Tsunami

A huge destructive wave (especially one caused by an earthquake)

tundra climate

• climate with cool summers and bitterly cold, dry winters (NORTH POLE)

Underwater ocean ridges

Oceanic divergent

Volcanic island chains

Oceanic convergent

water cycle

The continuous process by which water moves from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back

Weather

The condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place.

Weathering

The chemical and physical processes that break down rock at Earth's surface.

Why does the water cycle matter?

Enables availability of water for living organisms and can determine the type of climate an area has as well as its vegetation, dictates the type of economy humans can have based off of climate as well as its cultural development

wind erosion

when wind moves sand, dust and soil from one place to another; caused the Dust Bowl;can be limited by planting trees and other plants

wind patterns

The transfer of hot air from the tropics to the poles and cold air from the polar regions to the tropics.

windward side

side of mountain that faces the wind, cool and moist (the side rain falls on)

Winter Solstice

December 22 in the Northern Hemisphere when the sun is at its southernmost point