Lesson one - Weather & Climate Flashcards
What is Weather?
• The conditions of temperature, air pressure, cloud cover, precipitation, humidity, etc that occur at a particular place and a particular time
• Short term
What is Climate?
•the average weather conditions of a region over a long time (at least 30 years)
•Long term
What do Weather and Climate result from?
Interactions between different parts of our biosphere.
Biosphere
• thin layer of Earth where the interactions between biotic and abiotic components provide conditions suitable for supporting life
What is the Biosphere made up of?
• It is made up of three interacting parts: hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere
Atmosphere
• A layer of gases that surround the earth (air)
• extends 500 km above
Earths surface
• Absorbs a portion of
UV radiation
• Helps to moderate the Earths temperatures.
What is the Atmosphere mostly composed of?
78% Nitrogen - for plant growth
21% Oxygen - for photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
Troposphere
Troposphere - closest to the surface, contains most of the gases, living organisms and atmospheric dust.
Stratosphere
Stratosphere - contains the ozone layer, protects the earth by absorbing UV radiation.
Mesosphere
Mesosphere - coldest layer, where meteorites burn up.
Thermosphere
Thermosphere - outer/hottest layer, location of the aurora horaalic where catallites arhit
GREENHOUSE GASES
• Found in the Troposphere.
• absorbs some of the thermal energy transmitted by the earth and refled the energy back to Earth, keeping us warm.
What gases contribute to the greenhouse effect?
Nitrous Oxide, Water vapour, methane, carbon dioxide
Lithosphere
• Includes the crust and the uppermost mantle
• Life exists several km below earth’s surface
HYDROSPHERE
• All the water on earth is found in all three forms, solid, liquid, and vapor (in the atmosphere)
• 97% salt water,
3% fresh water (mostly ice, 2%: glaciers,
polar ice
• The amount of water on earth is constant
Climate is impacted by where on the biosphere it’s found- take into account its
• Altitude (distance above sea level)
• Solar Radiation (insolation)
• Angle of incidence and inclination
• Proximately to large bodies of water
• Latitude and Longitude (distance from the equator)
• Albedo
Solar radiation
• radiant energy directed at the earth by the sun.
• Consists of electromagnetic waves, including visible light.
Solar Radiation - Bet radiation budget
Net Radiation Budget:
• Earth’s net radiation is the balance between incoming and outgoing energy at the top of the atmosphere
Solar Radiation- Energy levels leave two ways.
• Reflection by clouds, aerosols, or the Earth’s surface
• Thermal radiation by the surface or atmosphere
Net budget formula
Net budget = Energy gain - Energy loss
*Global average net radiation must be close to zero over the course of a year
Solar Radiation - Insolation
• Insolation is determined by the angle at which the sun’s solar radiation strikes the earths surface.
• The smaller the angle (equator) the more concentrated the radiation/insolation
Angle of inclination
• the degree by which Earth’s poles (north & south) are tilted perpendicular of the plane of its orbit
• Earth has an angle of inclination of 23.5°
Longitude
• Longitude refers to horizontal lines (meridians) that run between the poles, east and west of the prime meridian in England.
• Used to determine earths time zones.
Latitude
• Earth is divided into latitudes that are imaginary lines that run parallel to the equator
• The equator is at latitude 0°, and the poles are at latitudes 90° N and S
SOLSTICE
• Solstice is when the earth’s poles are tilted directly toward or away from the sun.
Summer/ Winter solstice dates
Northern Hemisphere
• Summer Solstice - June 21t
, the longest day/most sunlight
• Winter Solstice - Dec. 21st, the shortest day/least sunlight
Equinox
• Equinox - when daylight hours equal hours of night.
(equi = equal) (nox = night)
• Spring - March 21
• Autumn - Sept 21
ANGLE OF INCIDENCE
• The angle between a ray falling on a surface and the line perpendicular to that surface
ALBEDO
• Light from the sun is either absorbed and converted to heat, or reflected back to space
• Albedo is a measure of how much light is reflected by a surface
