Atmosphere- Earth-Sun Dynamics Flashcards
What causes seasonal variations?
Axial tilt of Earht
What causes local variations?
Moment of inertia and incident solar radiation
Why does Earth have tilt?
Gravitational pull by the moon and the sun
Precession
Movement of the axis of a rotating body aroudn another axis, due to gravitational influence changing direction of the first axis
Eccentricity
The measurement of deviation from a circle of an orbit
Tropic of Cnacer
A prralel latitude north of Earth, 23.5 degrees north of the equator
Tropic of Capricorn
A parralele latitude 23.5 degrees south of the equator
What does the arctic and antartic circle mark respectively?
Southermost point sun can remain absent/present for 24 hours(NH)
Northernmost point sun can remain absent/present for 24 hours(SH)
Why do the tropics have little seasonal variation in temperature?
They almost always have sun overhead
Example of same latitude differences in continent climate?
Bergin mean annual temp of 7.8 degrees with range of 13.7
Omsk MAT of 0.4 degree with average range of 38.4 degrees.
How do tropics of cancer/capricorn shift annually?
They move 15 metres equatorward
Why does tropics of cancer/capricorn move yearly?
Changing axis of earth relative to suns orbit
What effects long-term climate change?
Paleogeography, GHG concentration, orbital parameters
What effects short-term climate?
Ocean-heat transport and GHG concentrations
What do the three Kepler Laws suggesT?
Planets like Earth exist in ellipitacal orbits, with one point closer to the sun.
