Quiz 1 Flashcards
What are two consequences of deforestation
- allows less CO2 to be absorbed by the plant life
2. Affects soil erosion because the roods of the plant life can’t hold the soil together when it rains
What are 2 Consequences of damming rivers
- They alter the local water balance by capturing things like silt and sand that would normally go down stream
- They disrupt the ecosystems, Displace people, and damage/destroy plant and animal communities
Provide an example of how you might us GIS in you life
You might use it in business to determine where to build a factory that is close to your suppliers but also want to be close to the natural resources you need like water.
Discuss one way in which the Earth’s biosphere strongly affects the composition of the atmosphere
The sun evaporates water off the earth’s surface which makes water vapor in other air which can turn into clouds
Explain the 4 ways that energy can flow from hotter to colder objects
Conduction- is the transfer of energy by direct contact with the hot object
Radiation- is the transfer of energy through the air
Convection- is the transfer of heat through the move of warm and cold molecules. ex. boiling water
Advection- energy transfer through horizontal movement
List one instrument used for measuring air temperature and describe how it works
A mercury thermometer has a tube with mercury because mercury’s properties stay consistent over a wide range of temperatures, so as the temperature increases the mercury moves up the tube you can measure the temperature on the scale outside.
Briefly discuss an example of latent heat being absorbed from or released into the environment (be sure to specify absorbed or released in your answer
When condensation forms on the windows or dew forms on the grass that is a release of latent heat from changing the air from a gas to a liquid
Discuss on way that electromagnetic energy radiated from the sun differs from electromagnetic energy radiated by the Earth
The sun and the earth both emit electromagnetic energy. One way that the sun differs from the earth is that the sun has a wavelength of about .1 micrometers and the earth emits wavelengths of about 10 micrometers. A wavelength is the distance between 2 crests of an adjacent wavelength
What is the definition of solar constant? What is the numerical value of the solar constant? Explain one way why this amount of energy is not received at the earth’s surface anywhere on Earth at any time of the day or the year.
The solar constant is the amount of radiation coming off the sun, the numerical value of it is 1366 W/m^2. We don’t recieve that much radiation because or atmosphere reflects some of it, and we are never exactly perpendicular to the sun.
Why do seasons (based on temperature) not exist in the Tropics? Be Specific, not General
Seasons don’t exist in the tropics because they have very low zenith angles, which means the sun is overhead at noon. This means that they receive almost the same amount of insolation year round.
Discuss tow ways that w recognize the change of seasons in Cedar falls other than weather changes.
We recognize the changes in season’s because in the summer the sun is visible longer than it is in the winter. A second way we recognize the changes in seasons is that in the summer the zenith angles are much smaller than they are in the winter. Zenith angles are the angles where you would draw a line directly above a point and another to the sun and measure it.
Why are each of the following parallels of latitude named A. Tropic of Cancer B. Arctic Circle
The Tropic of Cancer is named because on the summer solstice the Zenith angle there is at zero. The Arctic circle is named because on the winter solstice any place north of it will will have no sunlight at all.
What is the relationship between the length of daylight at 45 degrees North and the direction you would look to see the sun set from the June Solstice until the December Solstice
During the June Solstice the days will be longer because the earth is facing toward the sun and the sun rises more in the east and sets in the west. During the December Solstice the days will be shorter because the earth is facing away from the sun and the sun rises in the south east and sets in the southwest.
How would winter and summer temperatures in Cedar Falls be changed from what they are now if the Earth’s axial tilted only 10 degrees to the perpendicular to the orbital plain instead of the present tilt of 23.5 degrees perpendicular to the orbital plane. Explain why winter and summer temperatures would be different from present in terms of changed zenith angles in winter and summer.
If the earth was only tilted 10 degrees instead of 23.5 we would experience a cooler summer and warmer winter. This is because the Zenith angles in summer would be slightly greater than they are now, and the Zenith angles in the winter would be smaller than they are now.
Why is the sky blue
The sky is blue because the blue visible light has a shorter wavelength and is more easily scattered giving the sky a blue color.
Why are sunsets orange or red
The sunsets are orange or red because when the sun sets most of the blue light has already been scattered so all that is left is the orange and red visible light
What is the natural reason for the partial hole in the ozone layer over Antartica
Antarctica is surrounded by oceans and this creates wind that circles around the pole so fast that they don’t let any of the ozone in.
What is the anthropogenic reason for the partial hole in the stratospheric ozone layer over Antarctica
Humans have introduced chlorofluorocarbons CFC’s into the atmosphere through refrigerators, and air conditioners. These CFC’s break up the ozone molecules much faster than the natural processes do.
Why does the hole in the stratosphere ozone layer not contribute directly to global warming
The ozone hole doesn’t directly contribute to global warming because it protects us from the harmful Ultraviolet light coming into the atmosphere
Discuss one effect of the thinned stratospheric ozone layer on humans
The thinning of the ozone layer would lead to more Ultra violet light being let into the atmosphere which would lead to more cases of skin cancer.
Why is annual direct solar radiation not highest at the equator, but is highest in the subtropics
This is because of the cloud cover across the equator which absorbs the radiation from the sun. The equator has large amounts of rainfall that affect the amount of radiation it can absorb
Briefly what is one way that energy is transferred from the hot Earth’s Surface into the lower troposphere in the subtropical deserts
The energy that is absorbed by the Earth’s deserts is transferred into the lower troposphere by sensible heat because the heating of the land causes the air around that land to also heat up.
Describe all the radiation exchanged (emitted, absorbed) involved in the Earth’s Greenhouse Effect. Be sure to discriminate between long wave radiation and shortwave radiation and to use emitted or radiated and absorbed as appropriate
We receive short wave radiation from the sun which is absorbed into the earth, and some of it is reflected back to space. The earth then emits its own long wave radiation, and some of this radiation is sent back out to space. However, most of it is absorbed by the surrounding gasses and water in the air, this is then counter radiated back to the earth where it is absorbed by the earth.
List one atmospheric gas that absorbs long wave radiation. Briefly discus a source for the gas you listed
One atmospheric gas that absorbs long wave radiation is carbon dioxide. A source for this gas is the coal we burn for electricity in our homes.
