Climate, Climate Change, and Weather

1) Climate norms around the world

A) Climatographic analysis

B) Biome differential analysis

  • Biomes - World’s major communities, classified according to predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment

  • Change and move

  • Recently, human activities have dramatically altered biomes

Freshwater:

  • Low salt concentrations (usually <1%)

  • Plants + animals in freshwater wouldn’t be able to survive in higher salt concentrations

  • Ponds and Lakes

    • Range from few square meters - thousands of square kilometers

    • Some are remnants from Pleistocene glaciation (Pleistocene is the period that lasted from 2.58 million - 11,700 years ago, and it’s Earth’s most recent period of repeated glaciations)

    • Many ponds are seasonal and last just a couple months 

    • Lakes may exist for more than hundreds of years

    • Divided into 3 different zones usually determined by depth and dist. from shoreline

      • Littoral zone

        • Topmost zone near shore

        • Warmest bc shallow and can absorb more of sun’s heat

        • Fairly diverse community, can include:

          • Several species of algae like diatoms:

            • remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis

            • scientists estimate 20 to 50 percent of the oxygen we breathe is produced by diatoms

          • Rooted and floating aquatic plants

          • Grazing snails

          • Clams

          • Insects

          • Crustaceans

          • Fishes

          • Amphibians

          • Egg + Larvae stages of insects

        • Vegetation + animals in littoral zone are food for other creatures (ex: turtles, snakes, ducks)

      • Limnetic zone

        • Well-lighted (similar to littoral zone)

        • Dominated by plankton

          • Phytoplankton - plants

          • Zooplankton - animals that eat phytoplankton and then become food for larger species

          • Small organisms that are crucial in food chain

          • Small life spans

          • When they die they fall into profundal zone

        • Variety of freshwater fish

      • Profundal zone

        • Cold + dense

        • Little light penetrates all the way

        • Fauna = heterotrophs (eat dead organisms + use oxygen for cellular respiration)

    • During summer, temp ranges from 4° C (39.2° F)  near bottom to 22° C (71.6° F) at top

    • During winter, temp ranges from 4° C (39.2° F) near bottom to 0° C 

2) History of Climate Change

A) When was the world warmer/colder than it is now

B) What triggered unnatural climate change?

3) Climate versus Weather

A) Weather and how it relates to the geography of a location

Weather:

  • Refers to the short term state of the atmosphere

  • It can change from minutes to hours

  • It is the local changes in climate

  • Ex: rain, snow, winds, hail, thunderstorms

Climate:

  • Refers to the temperature over a long period of time in a specific area

  • It can take weeks to change

  • Climate is regional or global 

  • Ex: sea level rise, melting ice sheets, melting glacier, season changes

4) Mitigation techniques

  • Switch to renewable sources of energy, solar and wind energy: 

  • Switch to electric vehicles

  • Further insulate homes and buildings to keep warmth in 

  • Shop locally so there isn’t extra pollutioin from shipping

  • Reduce greenhouse gasses by switching to electric, compost food waste

  • Recycle as much as possible

5) Examples of climate change and human impact

  • Deforestation

  • Forest fires

  • Floods

  • Droughts

  • Sea levels