Geography Flashcards
Intergenerational equity
Present generations have a responsibility to future generations to ensure the world is habitable and that resources are used wisely so they will continue to be available in the future.
Anthropogenic
Human-caused or human-induced.
Local weather
the location around you.
Local factor
proximity to ocean, altitude, geographic factors.
The tilt of the planet leads to seasons.
Large scale patterns (climate drivers)
El Niño Southern Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole.
Natural patterns of variation
vegetation changes, ocean currents.
Geological and extraterrestrial events
volcanic eruption, meteors.
Tectonic influences
continental drift.
Anthropogenic influences
human-caused change.
Precipitation patterns
Due to the distribution of landmasses and uneven surface of the Earth, availability of moisture and subsequent rainfall amounts will vary.
Wind patterns
The Earth is not heated evenly by the sun because it is round.
These variations in heat create large zones where air pressure is different.
Air moves from a high pressure to an area of low pressure to even out.
Ocean circulation and heat transfer
Heat energy is transferred between the equator and the poles by very large ocean current. Oceans are large masses of water that circulate water flow around the oceans, either in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction.
Currents are formed by the Coriolis effect and influenced by winds, water density, tides and the shape of the ocean floor.
Thermohaline
Large currents that flow below the surface and along the sea floor are known as thermohaline currents and are driven by differences in water density (mainly salinity) and temperature.
Thermohaline currents form in the far northern and southern oceans when very cold surface waters plunge to the sea floor and create loops that return this water back towards the equator.
Albedo
Albedo – a measure of the ability of surfaces to reflect sunlight (heat from the sun). Light surfaces return much of the heat back to the atmosphere and dark surfaces absorb heat from the sun.
Land cover
what covers the land
ecological climax
the final stage of ecological succession, when a plant community has reached a stable balance with its environment.
biodiversity
the variety of life on Earth, including all plants, animals, microorganisms, and the ecosystems they live in.
monoculture
the cultivation of a single crop in a given area.
Climate refugeeism
forced movement of people due to climate change.
positive feedback loops
A positive feedback loop increases the effect of the change and produces instabilityexample : ice caps melt, sea levels rise, albedo drops causing more heat melting more ice caps and so on
negative feedback loops
A negative feedback loop reduces the effect of change and helps maintain balance.
Carbon Sequestration
Carbon sequestration secures carbon dioxide to prevent it from entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
The idea is to stabilize carbon in solid and dissolved forms so that it doesn’t cause the atmosphere to warm.
Trees can be considered a carbon sequestrator
Sea level rise
Various factors affect the volume or mass of the ocean, leading to long-term changes in eustatic (world-wide) sea level.
The two primary influences are temperature (because the density of water depends on temperature), and the mass of water locked up on land and sea as fresh water in rivers, lakes, glaciers and polar ice caps.
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases keep the Earth warm through a process called the greenhouse effect.
The greenhouse effect is the process by which radiation from a planet’s atmosphere warms the planet’s surface to a temperature above what it would be without its atmosphere.
