Chapter 1: Environmental Regions Flashcards
What is weather and climate?
Weather is the day to day condition of the atmosphere (temperature, wind, precipitation).
Climate is the average weather of a place recorded over several years.
Which factors affect climate?
Latitude: Places near the equator are warmer because the sun is usually overhead.
Distance from Sea: in summer the coast is cooler and inland is warmer and winter is vice-versa.
Prevailing Winds: cool weather if they blow over cool land, warm weather if they blow over
warm land, wet weather if they blow over the sea and dry weather if they blow over land.
Altitude (relief): Places that are higher have more rain and low temperatures than lower ones,
because as air rises it cools by 1 degree C (every 100m in height).
Name and describe the 3 types of rain
- Frontal rain: when warm air rises over cool air
- Relief rain: when warm, moist air is forced to rise over mountains
- Convectional rain: when heated ground warms air next to it
What is an ecosystem and what is a biome?
An ecosystem is a community of plants and animals that interact with one another
and with their non-living environment.
A biome is a very large ecosystem.
Name 6 major world ecosystems (biomes)
Coniferous Forest (Canada)
Deciduous Forest (UK)
Siberian Tundra
Atacama Desert (Peru)
Rainforest (Brazil)
Grassland (Kenya)
What is an equatorial climate?
It is hot and wet all year. There are no winters and summers and rainfall occurs usually during
afternoons. Weather is predictable.
Which places have an equatorial climate?
This climate is limited to 5°N and 5°S of the equator.
Places it is mainly found:
-Amazon Basin
-Congo Basin
-Indonesia
Name the 3 layers of trees in a tropical rainforest
Shrub Layer
Under Canopy
Canopy
Describe a tropical rainforest
It grows in an equatorial climate and one third of the world’s trees grow here. Largest trees are called emergents (up to 40m in height). The floor is damp and dark. Leaves have drip tips. Trunks are straight and branchless below. Fallen leaves soon rot.
What is a Mediterranean climate?
Climate where summers are hot and dry because the sun rises high in the sky and prevailing winds blow from land. The winters are mild (warm) and wet because of the warming effect of the sea and because prevailing wind blows from sea.
Which places have a Mediterranean climate?
Places on the west coast of continents and between latitudes 30° and 40° North and South of the equator.
-Around the Mediterranean sea
-South Africa
-California
-Central Chile
-Southwest and Southeast Australia
Describe how Mediterranean vegetation adapts to its environment
-Thick trunks
-Small, waxy leaves
-Thin soil
-Long roots
-Quick life cycle
-Very little grass
-Thick skinned fruit
What is a hot desert climate?
Hot days and cold nights. Summers are hot and winters are cooler. It is in places where air descends. Prevailing winds come from land.
Which places have a hot desert climate?
It is found in places where prevailing winds come from dry land. Usually in the center or west coast of continents and between 10° and 30° North and South of Equator.
Sonoran, Chihuahuan (North America), Sechura, Atacama (South America), Sahara, Arabian (Asia), Namib, Kalahari (Africa), Australian Desert.
How do plants adapt to hot desert?
-Can store lots of water
-Spikes instead of leaves
-Fleshy stems
-Long but shallow roots
What are polar regions like?
Summers are short and cool. Winters are long and very cold. Precipitation is low and in snow form. Temperature is always below 10 degrees. Places near poles get 24 hours of daylight in summer and 24 hours of darkness in winter.
Name places with polar climate
Tundra: Northern Alaska and Russia
Ice Cap: Greenland and Antarctica
What is scrub?
Small, stunted trees and bushes that are the natural vegetation of the Mediterranean
Name the polar wildlife in the tundra and ice cap regions
Tundra: Migratory reindeer and caribou
Ice Caps: Polar bears and Walrus
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