Topic 2: Climate Flashcards
Climate is typically defined by prevailing patterns of?
Temperature and precipitation.
How is climate different than weather?
Climate is the 2 main component of temp and precipitation over a 30 year avg, whereas weather is the instantaneous condition (like what the weather is rn outside).
What are some factors that influence temperature and precipitation?
Solar radiation
Elevation
Topography
Ocean currents and bodies of water
Atmospheric circulation
How much solar radiation reaches the surface and is absorbed? What happens to the rest?
51%
the rest is scattered, or absorbed by the ATMOSPHERE.
The amount of solar energy intercepted by the earth at any point varies with what? How does the amount intercepted differ compared to the poles and equator? Why does it differ?
The amount of solar energy intercepted by the earth at any point varies with latitude.
Decreases towards the poles. increases towards the equator.
- differes due to angle and depth of atm.
What are the 3 atmospheric cells?
polar, ferrel, and hadley.
What is the effect that deflects air currents?
Coriolis effect
Describe how the atm cells are formed.
high levels of solar radiation near the equator drives the warming of air.
As air rises, it begins to cool. this cooling causes water to precipitate creating areas of tropical rainforests. the air is pushed outwards and it continues to cool. this momentum is then killed by the Coriolis effect and then the air descends. the descending of the air draws moisture from landscapes therefore creating deserts.
Why does the actual precipitation patterns not line up with the model?
bodies of water and topography can change the precipitation patters.
Continents of water can act as what to water currents? what does this create?
continents act as obstructions to the water currents creating gyres (which are circular motions of water flow).
Describe the movement of the currents in the northern hemisphere vs southern.
currents tend to move clockwise in the northern hemisphere, and counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
Describe how the warm vs cool currents originate and what the ecological consequences are.
warm currents tend to move from the tropics outwards, while cool currents originate from the polar regions.
cold currents bring cooler and dryer conditions. so a cold current would cause colder and dryer local conditions (deserts).
warmer currents bring warmer and wetter conditions, therefore increasing precipitation (rainforests).
How do bodies of water heat vs land?
land areas heat rapidly, and cool rapidly resulting in larger temperature flux.
water warms and cools more slowly resulting in moderated temperatures.
Precipitation tends to be higher in which hemisphere? why is this the case?
Precipitation tends to be higher in Southern Hemisphere due to having a lower land mass than the northern hemisphere.
What are rain shadows?
The windward side of the mountain is forcing air/clouds upward causing the air to cool. we know that when air cools it looses its ability to hold on to moisture causing it to precipitate. the air then is pulled down as it increase in density, and it pulled moisture out of the land causing a dry area.
------->
Precip ------->(wet area) mountain ------> (dry area)
