Physical Geography Flashcards
Rain splash erosion
Rain drops landing on a surface and eroding it. The amount of erosion depends on the rainfall intensity,velocity and raindrop distribution. The higher the rain drop the more damage it makes.
Surface wash
occurs when soil’s infiltration capacity is. exceeded and can lead to the formation of gullies. Happens in uk winter and tropical areas.
Quantification
the collection of methods that are applied, or could/can be applied, by geographers to study something
Diurnal energy budgets
the amount of energy entering a system, the amount leaving the system, and the transfer of energy within the system
components of the daytime energy budget
Incoming shortwave solar radiation, Reflected solar radiation, Latent heat transfer, Sensible heat transfer, Surface and subsurface absorption, Long wave radiation.
What are the Surface Wind Belts
the trade winds, the prevailing westerlies, and the polar easterlies
The jet stream
The jet stream is a core of strong winds around 5 to 7 miles above earth’s surface, blowing from west to east
Ocean Currents
Surface currents are influenced by prevailing winds
- warm currents such as the North Atlantic drift away from the equator raise winter temperatures
- cold currents from polar regions such as the Labrador currents reduce summer temperatures
- salty water sinking allows the global conveyor to exist
Condensation
change from a vapour to a liquid often creating clouds and rainfall
Coolings three main ways
three main ways- radiation cooling , contact cooling of air as it rests over a cold surface, adiabatic cooling as it rests other a cold surface
Freezing and melting
Freezing change of liquid water into a solid as temperatures fall below 0C
Melting change from solid to liquid as temperatures rise above 0C
Bergeron-findeisen Theory
clouds at high altitude contain a mixture of water droplets and ice crystals
The ice crystals grow rapidly by attracting vapour from the water
Eventually the ice crystals become to heavy and drop off
Collision-Coalescence Theory
A second theory explains rainfall in the warm tropics
Super-sized condensation nuclei
cloud droplets collide and coalesce or stick together.
Urban heat islands
An urban heat island is a metropolitan area which is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas.
anthropogenic
Human caused heat. Buildings, industrial, cars, sweating.
thermal capacity
The storage of heat
Urban heat island is biggest when
it’s night time , in the summer , when there is no wind , when the sky is clear , when the weather doesn’t change at night
Urban canyon
Where tall buildings can slow the wind speeds they can channel airflow into urban canyons beneath them. This leads to increased wind speeds.
The greenhouse
natural process that warms the earth’s surface. When the sun’s energy reaches the earth’s atmosphere, some of it is reflected back to space and some is absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases.
What causes The enhanced greenhouse effect
increased levels of carbon dioxide , methane, chlorofluorocarbons and other gases in the air released by carbon activity.
Earths tilt
21.5-24.5, changes every 41000 years, today it’s 23.5, 21.5 means global cooling
How many of the top 5 uk summers have occurred since the millennium?
4
When was hottest temperature in the uk
2022, 40 degrees
Heatwaves applied
Heatwaves are when the temperature doesn’t drop below 20 at night
Every month in 2022 was warmer than the 1991- 2020 average
In 2022 a temperature of 40 was recorded for the first time in the uk
Temperatures in the uk are changing faster than most other places in the uk
