Climate Flashcards
What is the biosphere?
Life on earth
What are the 3 non living ‘spheres’?
- atmosphere
- lithosphere
- hydrosphere
What is the biosphere made of?
The parts of earth where life exists - all ecosystems
What is each part of the biosphere made of
- Atmosphere: Oxygen & Nitrogen
- Lithosphere: Rocks & Minerals
- Hydrosphere: Water
What is the source of all energy?
The sun
What is insolation?
Describes the amount of solar energy received by a region of earts surface
What is the angle of inclination?
The degree by which the earth’s poles are tilted from its orbit (23.5°)
How does the angle on inclination affect the climate of areas near the equator & the poles
- it’s what results in seasons
How does the A O inclination affect the climate of the northern and southern hemisphere?
- causes the north pole to be tilted towards the sun in summer
- Away from the sun in winter
What is the A O incidence?
The angle at which light will hit a position on earth
How is the A O incidence related to the amount of insolation an area on earth gets throughout the year?
Results in light being stretched over a greater area at the poles rather then at the equator ( more energy at the equator)
What is albedo?
The percentage of light reflected by the earth
If albedo is represented by a number what does the number mean?
The percentage of albedo things carry
What makes things have a higher albedo
- Color
- Seasons
- lighting
What is the greenhouse effect?
A blanket of gasses that trap heat radiated from earth
What gasses contribute to the GHE
CO² & CH⁴
(Carbon dioxide) (Methane)
CO² most responsible
How do humans affect the amount of GHE
- Fossil fuels
- Cutting down forests
- farming livestock
What are the 3 methods of thermal energy transfer?
- Radiation
- Conduction
- Convection
What is the Coriolis affect?
Air circulation
How is thermal energy transfered throughout the hydrosphere on earth?
Global winds
What causes the water movement?
Ocean currents
What are the different phase changes possible for HFus and HVap
Ice -> water : Absorb
Water -> gas : absorb
Gas -> water : release
Water -> ice : release
What is the heating curve of water
When the land is warmer during the day and cold at night
- Sea breeze
- Land breeze
What is HVap and HFus
- amount of energy gained by 1 mol of a substance changed from liquid to gas
- Amount of energy gained by 1 mol
of a substance changed from solid to liquid
What is a biome?
A large region of the world with a particular climate and organisms that live there
What are the different biomes?
- Rainforest
- Tundra
- Desert
- Grasslands
- Taiga
- Deciduous Forest
Which biomes are present in canada?
- Tundra
- Deciduous Forest
- Grasslands
- Taiga
What is a climatograph?
The average annual rainfall and temp for a given month for a location
What are carbon sinks and their carbon sources
Storage sites for carbon
- deep oceans, earth’s crust, petroleum reserves
