Climate Flashcards
What’s the thermohailine conveyer
Warm water heats up at the equator and moves from the Gulf of Mexico so the dense salt water flows across the Atlantic Ocean to the UK giving heat to the area. Density from the ocean around it is less than the salty water so air sinks and clouds form leaving cold water to flow back from Labrador current.
What’s high pressure
Air sinks towards surface forming calm weather
What’s low pressure
Air rises making it able to condense and form clouds
Global circulation model
Hadley cells between 0 and 30 degrees air rises due to low pressure then sinks at high pressure so dry and sun. Biomes would be found as desert.
Ferrel cells 30 and 60 degrees so low pressure and sinks at high pressure
Polar 60 and 90 degrees cold
Impacts of climate change
Sea level rise
Loss of biodiversity
Melting ice
More frequent storms
What’s the ITZC
Where two Hadley cells meet and an area of low pressure and changes location at suns direct energy
June - Tropic of Cancer ( rain to north hem )
Dec - Tropic of Capricorn ( rain to south hem )
How does land effect climate
Dark surfaces ( rainforests ) absorb sunlight which is converted into heat through low pressure
How does ocean effect climate
Longer to absorb but longer too cool so air over it remains cool and dense causing high pressure
Past climate change evidence
Ice cores = measure levels of co2 in air deciding how hot it was
Tree rings = warmer and wetter have larger rings
History= less accurate
Causes of natural climate change
Eruption theory- release ash into atmosphere which stops sunlight reaching ground causing cooling
Sun spots - more = hotter and come and go every 11 years
Asteroid collisions - 1km asteroid hits earth every 500,000 years blocking sunlight
Wind significance
Distributes heat around earth making it habitable
Ozone layer
Protects earth from suns strong heat
Greenhouse gasses
Co2 fossil fuels
Methane cattle farming
Nitrous oxide cars
