APES Test 4 Part 2

Question 1

What is wind??

Answer 1

Vertical movement of air along surface
Pressure gradient!

Question 2

Uneven Heating of Earth

Answer 2

Incoming solar radiation (insolation) is the Earth’s main source of energy

The angle of the sun’s rays determines the intensity of the solar radiation. Due to the shape of the Earth, the latitude that is directly horizontal to the solar radiation receives the most intensity.

The highest solar radiation per unit area is received at the equator and decreases toward the poles.

The solar radiation received at a location on the Earth’s surface varies seasonally, with the most radiation received during the location’s longest summer day and the least on the shortest winter day.

The tilt of Earth’s axis of rotation causes the Earth’s seasons and the number of hours of daylight in a particular location on the Earth’s surface.

Question 3

High and Low Pressure

Answer 3

High and Dry!
High pressure is formed by cold air- this air is heavy- dense- and sinks down to the surface.
Low pressure is formed by warm air- warm air rises, carries moisture with it, usually leads to precipitation events- but this less dense warm air leads to lower pressure

Question 4

We move from H to L

Answer 4

High pressure wants to fill in those lower density areas left in low pressure systems- so high pressure air masses move toward low pressure air masses- leading to wind!

Question 5

Globally, winds want to move away from the poles

Answer 5

Why is this the general trend?
We will do a demo….
But- it is much, much more complicated than this- forming several bands on the earth with different prevailing winds
STUDY CONVECTION CELLS LOOK AT DIAGRAM AND LOOK AT VIDEO ABOUT WIND TRENDS AND CELLS

Question 6

Coriolis Effect

Answer 6

We will do a demo and play with some inflatable globes
Remember that earth is rotating counterclockwise (eg- to the right when north is up)
This will have implications for how winds move across the earth

Question 7

Hadley Cells

Answer 7

These are convection cells that are located between the equator, and 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south (there are two cells).
Warm air from equator rises, moves away from equator, as cold dense air from closer to the poles rushes in to fill its place

Question 8

Polar Cells

Answer 8

Cold air moves away from the poles, warms up, rises, moves back toward the pole, cools, and sinks
Occurs at NP and SP to 60 degrees

Question 9

Ferrel Cells- Indirect Circulation Cell

Answer 9

These are kind of confusing- but on a model of the earth with polar and hadley cells filled in, Ferrel cells essentially fill in the gaps and match the arrows up.
At 30 degrees north, Hadley cells are pulling down cold air- some of this cold air rushes to fill in the low pressure zone at the equator (forming the rest of the Hadley cell), but some other air rushes to fill in the low pressure zone that forms at 60 degree north, where low pressure is forming from polar air after it warms up

Question 10

GLOBAL WIND PATTERNS

Answer 10

KNOW/MEMORIZE AND UNDERSTAND THIS LOOK AT DIAGRAM AND VIDEOS

Question 11

Weather and climate are affected not only by the sun’s energy but by geologic and geographic factors, such as mountains and ocean temperature

Answer 11

Oceans-
Any large body of water is going to have a moderating effect on climate- that is, because water has a high specific heat, it is resistant to changes in temperature.
Ocean currents can have a large impact on ocean temperatures, too
Ocean currents (which we will not go over in detail) bring warm and cool water around the globe

There is some risk to oceanic current collapse in the future

Question 12

Rain Shadow Effect

Answer 12

a patch of land that has been forced to become a desert because mountain ranges blocked all plant-growing, rainy weather. On one side of the mountain, wet weather systems drop rain and snow. On the other side of the mountain—the rain shadow side—all that precipitation is blocked.
windward vs. leeward sides

Question 13

Watersheds

Answer 13

‘Watershed’ is an area of land where all precipitation will flow to a single body of water (river, basin, sea/ocean, etc.)
Watersheds are defined by what happens to precipitation.

Question 14

What happens to precipitation?

Answer 14

In many ‘natural’ forest ecosystems, most rainwater is absorbed by soil and taken up by plants….
Rain is first captured by the forest canopy, where it slowly drips to the forest floor and is absorbed by soil.
In the absence of a canopy or vegetation to capture rainfall, the ground will quickly become too saturated and water will ‘run off’

Question 15

Three Things happen to precipitation:

Answer 15

1) Canopy Interception and Evapotranspiration
Tree canopy and other vegetation intercepts rainfall. Much of this rainfall collects on leaves, where it slowly drips down or evaporates.
2) Soil Infiltration
Water, once it gets through the canopy, will infiltrate, or absorb into the soil
Shallow infiltration saturates the soil, providing plant life and soil organisms with moisture
3) Runoff
The remaining water will runoff, meaning it will move across the surface, to bodies of water

Question 16

Runoff and Impervious Surfaces

Answer 16

Impervious surfaces are surfaces that do NOT absorb water (eg. relatively little infiltration).
Water ‘runs off’ when it is not absorbed. Notice this is MUCH higher in urban areas.
Runs off to where??
The body of water (river)!!!!

Question 17

Watersheds and Runoff– Summary

Answer 17

Precipitation landing anywhere within a watershed will ultimately collect in a single body of water UNLESS absorbed into the ground or lost to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration
In natural areas, vegetation prevents the majority of water from running off into bodies of water
Urbanization increases impervious surface cover, therefore increasing runoff.

Question 18

Runoff- Why is it such a problem??

Answer 18

Runoff means that rainwater can potentially carry pollution from anywhere within the watershed to one or more water sources
As water runs along the surface, it carries lots of stuff with it.
What factors can influence pollution in rivers?
Where is the pollution?
How far is it from the body of water?

Question 19

Runoff Problem 1: NOT JUST WATER

Answer 19

Sand, silt, and clay; eg. MUD
Industrial and vehicle fluid (eg. oil)
Garbage!
Couches, car bumpers, tires, clothing, bottles, bags, chip bags, chairs, tools, bleachers, bridges, and MORE!
Fertilizer, nitrogen
Goose poop, dog poop, etc.
Pesticides and other chemicals
Road Salt
As water ‘runs off’, some is caught in storm drains and sewers, overflowing them and sending things like raw sewage directly into the river
You name it, and it has probably ended up in a river at some point. We have found tires, shopping carts, couches, bullets, car bumpers, road signs, bridges and more on our class clean ups

Question 20

Runoff- Problem 2- Excessive Flooding

Answer 20

Excessive flooding occurs when massive amounts of precipitation runoff into a body of water in a short period of time.
Why is this less likely to occur in a natural stream area?

Question 21

La Nina

Answer 21

normal pattern intensifies, La Nina is intense version of normal
temperatures of water are more extreme
occurs when trade winds are stronger than normal
trade winds have been reestablished and even intensified, so greater than normal movement of warm surface water to the west and this results in warmer than normal weather and higher than everage rainfalll in Southeast Asia and Australia, may experience flash flooding
South American experiences colder and drier conditions than normal, whcih can cause droughts in the coastal regions especially, however, stronger than normal trade winds blow more warm surface water westward which creates a stronger upwelling along the coast of South American which brings up more cold deep ocean water that has more oxygen and nutrients to support the fisheries

Question 22

El Niño

Answer 22

trade winds weaken, warm surface waters pool up along coast of South America instead of over in the west near Australia and Southeast Asia, flips normal weather
South America is now getting warmer weather, and low pressure systems, and higher than average rainfal, can lead to flooding and land slides
Southeast Asia and Australia meanwhile are receiving colder, drier than average weather which can bring about drought like conditions, can suppresss upwelling, meaning that fisheries suffer b/c of warmer water and lack of nutrients

Question 23

Upwelling

Answer 23

Upwelling is when cooler water rises toward the surface to replace warmer water that has moved away. This happens along the Pacific Coast of the United States because trade winds push warmer water away from the Pacific Coast, so cold water rises up to replace it.
Water toward the bottom of the ocean has more nutrients in it, so when cold water rises higher, to the top, nutrients are brought to the surface where they can be productive and contribute to NPP, so NPP is higher