Geography 272 exam 1

environmental determinism

environmental determinism

environment determines human behavior

Systems theory

set of ordered, interrelated components, linked by flows of energy and matter, distinct from the surrounding environment outside the system. includes subsystems

Milky way galaxy

100,000 light years in diameter. flat disk of stars

negative feedback

discourages change in a system, leading to stability, or selfregulation. counteracting

positive feedback

the encouragement of change in a system, can lead to a ‘snowballing’ effect, leading to instability +death eg. ocean level rise

Steady-state equilibrium

maintain structure and character over time. energy and material system that remains balanced over time, are constant or recur, is in a steady-state condition.

Dynamic equilibrium

steady-state system demonstrates a changing trend over time. appears gradually or suddenly; thresholds/tipping points

Speed of light

300,000 km/second. Universe is 12 billion light-years in all directions

Earth’s speed in orbit

averages 107,280 km/hr

tropic

either of two parallels of latitude about 23.5 N or S. ‘to turn’, or ‘change’ (a turning back point)

equinox

either of two times of the year when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator and day and night are of equal length

solstice

sol + sistere “to stand still”. either of the two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator. Dec 21/22 & June 21. Sun’s declination is at its position farthest north at the Tropic of Cancer (23 degrees N), or south, at the Tropic of Capricorn (23 degrees S).

Axial parallelism

as the Earth revolves in its orbit its axis always appears parallel to itself. axial tilt- tilted by an average of 23.5 degrees away from a right angle with the plane of the ecliptic

Perihelion

closest position to sun on Jan. 3 in Northern hemisphere winter is 147,255,000 km

Aphelion

farthest distance to sun on July 4 during Northern hemisphere summer is 152,083,000 km

Reasons for seasons

1. Earth’s revolution around the Sun

2. Earth’s daily rotation on its axis

3. Earth’s tilted axis

4. Axial parallelism

5. Sphericity (geoid-shape of the Earth)

coriolis force

a force due to the earth's rotation; flows are turned toward the right in the northern hemisphere and toward the left in the southern hemisphere

Heliophysics

the study of the sun and its interactions with Earth and the solar system

Radiation

energy from a source in the form of waves or particles = electromagnetic waves

solar wind

a stream of protons moving radially from the sun. needing about 3 days to reach Earth, sometimes augmented by coronal mass ejections

Sunspots

surface disturbances caused by magnetic storms

Auroras

Latin: ‘dawn; goddess of the dawn’, Solar winds make contact with Earth’s magnetic field = magnetosphere. borealis in the north, australis in the south

Insolation

incident solar radiation

loss of insolation

A) Absorption (e.g. absorption bands) B) Scattering C) Reflection

Solar Constant

rate at which radiant solar energy is received at the outer layer of the earth's atmosphere. total solar irradiance = amount of solar radiation received by Earth within the Earth’s thermopause at 480 km altitude

EM Spectrum

all possible wavelengths of electromagnetic energy emitted by a body; Portions of the electromagnetic spectrum of radiant energy are either visible or invisible to the human eye

Transmissivity

atmospheric ‘windows’. ability of the atmosphere to allow radiation to pass through

Velocity

(v) = rate of movement in some direction (v = distance/time, expressed e.g. meters/second)

Wavelength

( λ) = distance between corresponding points on any two successive waves (expressed in micrometers, μm)

Frequency

(f) = the number of waves passing a fixed point in 1 second (expressed in hertz, Hz).

Wave

a disturbance or variation that transfers energy progressively from point to point in a medium

Intensity

(I) is the amount of solar radiation striking an object (expressed as watts/m 2 )

Inverse Square Law

Total energy is constant so more distance, less intensity per unit area, 2x distance, 1/4 radiation

Albedo

the ratio of reflected to incident light, reflective quality of a surface. Earth average = 30%. light color, smooth texture= high albedo

Mie scattering- Gustav Mie

(nonmolecular scattering), or aerosol particle scattering takes place in the troposphere, spherical particles present with diameters=to the size of the wavelength of the incident ray. makes clouds white

Air

mixture of gases that is naturally odorless, colorless, tasteless and formless, blended as if it were a single gas

pressure

exerted by a gas, sum total of the impact of the particles composing it. (F/A). In atmospheric science, pressure is often measured as pascals (Pa). Pa at sea level =101,325 Pa

kinetic energy

energy of motion, the vibrational energy we measure as temperature: KE = 1/2mv2

Temperature

avg. KE of individual particles, or molecules, in matter. A measure of sensible heat energy present in the atmosphere and other media

Heat

flow of KE from one body to another, resulting in a temp difference between them; depends upon density or mass of substance/body. Heat flow stops when the temperatures (amounts of kinetic energy) are equal. sensible & latent heat transferred by radiation, conduction, convection, advection

mean free path

distance a particle travels before colliding with another molecule

Noctilucent clouds (NLCs)

upper mesosphere = cosmic or meteoric dust particles, acting a nuclei around which fine ice crystals form, highest clouds, ice crystals

photodissociation

Reaction w/ sunlight degrades compounds by incoming photons, breaking apart molecules of CO2 to create oxygen (O2 ), providing minuscule amounts of oxygen which will combine to create ozone. O2+UV---> O+O (atomic O) O+ O2 ---> 03 (ozone, creation) O3+ UV---> O+O2 (destructionn)

ozonosphere

Consists of 3 linked oxygen molecules. ozone is destroyed by reactions with chlorine, bromine, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen gases. methane (CH4 ), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), nitrous oxide (N2O) contribute to catalytic reactions

catalytic reaction cycle

set of chemical reactions resulting in destruction of ozone molecules while the molecule that started the reaction is reformed to continue the process.

Polar Stratospheric Clouds

Ozone-depleting substances are transported great distances by atmospheric air motions. Contribute to ozone hole of the antarctic. Formed in low temps

Tropopause

‘lid’ keeping cooler air from mixing with warmer (less dense) air in stratosphere

Troposphere

the lowest atmospheric layer; from 4 to 11 miles high. all weather, all forms of water tropos: turn. Hottest at the bottom, pressure is 5x lower at tropopause than it is at earth's surface

Stratosphere

the atmospheric layer between the troposphere and the mesosphere. stratified, not much change. Temperature is increasing with altitude, pressure decreases. Heating in stratosphere by absorbing UV, ozone molecules are broke up with UV radiation, breaking and combining over and over

Mesopause

coldest area in atmosphere. Ignorosphere, Air is too sparse in mesosphere to research

thermosphere

the atmospheric layer between the mesosphere and the exosphere. thermo: heat. temperature increases with height because radiation from the sun is absorbed. Density of air is extremely low, but the air molecules are high temps

Ionosphere

contains thermosphere and mesosphere

magnetosphere

the magnetic field of a planet; the volume around the planet in which charged particles are subject more to the planet's magnetic field than to the solar magnetic field. shield against solar winds, magnetic field that extends past earth's atmosphere

Photodissociation

reaction with sunlight that degrades compounds, CO2 to O2

ideal gas law

air volume is inversely proportional to its pressure (Robert Boyle); that air volume is directly proportional to its temperature (J.A.C. Charles ) . PV = nRT

drift

the airborne movement of agricultural chemicals as droplets, particles or vapor outside of the intended agricultural target area. Pesticides

PM

particular matter. Diverse mixture of fine particles such as haze, smoke, dust; smaller particles are aerosols. Approx. residence time in lower 2 km of troposphere 5 – 9 days; about 1 month in upper troposphere; 2-3 years in stratosphere

SMOG

smoke + fog. industrial smog pollution – coal-burning industries. sulfuric acids

Acid deposition

rain, snow, dust, particulate matter. Sulfur dioxide & nitrogen oxides from fertilizers and fossil fuel combustion. converted to nitric acid (HNO3) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) in the atmosphere and precipitate

Sensible heat

Energy that changes temperature of a substance

latent heat

heat absorbed or radiated during a change of phase at a constant temperature and pressure. (LE) Energy stored in water vapor as water evaporates. Water absorbs large quantities of this latent heat

specific heat

the heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance one degree centigrade. higher retains more heat. Land is low, water is high

Sir Issac Newton

Inverse Square Law

Stefan-Boltzmann Law

more temperature, more emissive power. total radiant heat energy emitted from a surface is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature. Josef Stefan and Ludwig Boltzmann

Why is the sky blue?- John William Strutt

Rayleigh scattering. Blue light in insolation is scattered by gas molecules more intensely than the other colors

Wein’s Law Displacement Law

Objects radiate energy in wavelengths related to their individual surface temperatures

Henry Cavendish

decribe phlogiston- false concept of hydrogen

Antoine Laviosier

named hydrogen (‘generator of water’). used azot for nitrogen (Greek for something ‘incompatible with life’). first to recognize oxygen its own right, calling it oxygéne (‘maker of acids’)

William Hyde Wollaston

notice that there were gaps in the light spectrum – dark lines where the light seemed to have been stripped out. Joseph von Fraunhofer further mapped out

Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff

realized that these “Fraunhofer lines” appeared at same wavelengths as some of emission lines viewed with spectroscope. elements in the atmosphere were absorbing the light

Edward Frankland

named helium (Greek sun god Helios). Norman Lockyer saw a ‘3rd yellow line’ light spectrum gap

Joseph Black

experimented unknowingly with nitrogen

Daniel Rutherford

called nitrogen 'mephitic air’ (a Greek legendary noxious emission). removed oxygen and carbon dioxide from air and was left with nitrogen

William Ramsay and Lord Rayleigh

identified and described argon. Greek for ‘lazy’. highly inert/highly unreactive

galileo

early version of the thermoscope

Santorio

applied a scale to an air thermoscope. supposed inventor of the thermometer

Daniel Fahrenheit

produced an accurate alcohol and mercury thermometer

Anders Celsius

devised a scale that substituted the boiling point of water for body temperature, with 0 degrees C for the freezing point and 100 degrees C for the boiling point of water.

Guillaume Amontons

showed that there was an absolute minimum temp. at which pressure would drop to nothing

William Thomson, (aka Lord Kelvin)

developed an “absolute” temperature scale that would apply to all substances. He set absolute zero as 0 on his scale. Kelvin (K) scale

Blaise Pascal

carried two glass tubes containing mercury to the top of the ‘Puy de Dôme’- early barometer

Evangelista Torricelli

invented the mercury barometer

Joseph Fourier

‘greenhouse effect’

Svante Arrhenius

tied together carbon dioxide levels and global temperatures