Grey U4 Planet Earth part one

Made throughout unit

Climate

the overall weather patterns of an area over a long period of time (30-100 years)

Climographs

Graphical representation of the climate of a location showing average temperature and precipitation per month

7 climate factors that determine climate zones

1. Latitude

2. Altitude

3. Windward/ leeward side of Mountain Ranges

4. Proximity to oceans

5. Ocean currents

6. Planetary wind and pressure belts

7. Storm tracks

How many convection cells does the northern hemisphere have

3 convection cells

Gyre

Loops of ocean current circulation

2 factors that influence surface currents

1. Continents

2. Wind flow/coriolis effect

What are the gyre in northern hemisphere

Clockwise gyre

What are the gyre in southern hemisphere

Counterclockwise gyre

30° N/S on Earth are called what and what air pressure

Horse latitudes and high air pressure

0° on Earth is called what/ what pressure

Doldrums/ low pressure

Cell that run from 0°- 30° N/S high to low

Hadley cell

Winds that blow down from 30° to 0° at right (in northern) and left ( in southern)

Trade winds

60° N/S on Earth called/ pressure

Polar fronts/ low pressure

90° N/S on Earth pressure

High pressure

Winds that blow down from 90° to 60° at right (in northern) and left ( in southern)

Polar Easterlies

What are climate controls

What eh climate of a location depends on (set of conditions)

List 5 main climate zones and briefly explain subclimates

1. Polar= Tundra (always cold and dry)/ Icecaps (constantly snow and ice covered)

2. Dry= Desert (evaporation more than precipitation)/ semiarid ( not as dry as desert, but evaporation more than precipitation)

3. Humid Tropical= Tropical Wet (hot and very rainy)/ tropical wet and dry (always hot with wet and dry seasons)

4. Highlands= No subclimates/ temp. and precipitation vary with latitude, altitude, side of mountain

5. Moist mid-latitude= Has 2 parts, Mild winter= Humid subtropical (humid summers and mild winters)/ Marine west coast (rainy/ mild winters)

Severe winters= Humid continental (inland, warm summers, cold winters)/ Subarctic (short summers and long cold winters)

Is climate change always changing or relatively the same.

Always changing

What shows greater variation, local or global temp. means

Local

Heat budget

Balance between incoming solar energy and outgoing heat radiated from our planet

What causes climate to change

Heat budget

How does Earth’s 3 motion changes affect climate change

1. Rotation

2. Tilt on axis

3. Axis of rotation

All change amount of sun parts of Earth gets, changing temp.

How do plate tectonics affect climate change (3)

1. Change wind patterns

2. Change ocean currents

3. Change amount of solar radiation reflected at Earth→ so amount of temp.

What is sunspot and how could it have affected climate change

A sunspot is a dark spot on sun→ more radiation is emitted→ Earth heats up more

Global temps don’t change that much as example ice age only changed global means by 5°

What are 2 way volcanoes affect climate change

1. Increase in dust and sulfur dioxide results in reflecting sun’s radiation back into space→ decreasing temp.

2. Increase in carbon dioxide→ more heat trapped and absorbed in Earth’s atmosphere→ Earth heats up

How have humans affected climate change give 2 examples

Deforestation + burning fossil fuels→ increase in amount of carbon dioxide in atmosphere→ temp. increasing

What are 3 ways and explain to measure far past temps.

1. Fossil tree rings= Thickness of ring is affected by temp. and precipitation.

2. Oxygen isotope analysis with shells= lighter molecules evaporate more→ if cold, then lighter oxygen atoms fall as snow and get stored in glaciers→ ratio of heavy to light oxygen atoms increases in ocean→ more shells have heavier oxygen atoms in them.

3. Warmer→ more heavy oxygen atoms evaporate→ more heavy oxygen atoms are stored on glaciers→ measure amount of heavy oxygen atoms on glacier.