bio 2- 02 climate

Identify the physical drivers of distribution:

Name the three physical factors that drive the distribution of organisms at the global scale: light, temperature, and precipitation.

Explain the drivers of global temperature gradients:

Describe how the angle of incidence (steep vs. oblique) and the depth of atmosphere crossed affect the solar energy per square meter: steep angle and less atmosphere in the tropics give more energy/m2, while the oblique angle and more atmosphere near the poles give less.

Connect Earth's tilt to seasonality

Explain how the 23.5° tilt of Earth's axis creates seasons, with the latitude of greatest solar energy shifting between the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N, June solstice) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5° S, December solstice), and the sun over the equator at the equinoxes; predict that an untilted axis would eliminate seasonal variation.