Weather V.s Climate Flashcards
What’s weather?
Weather describes short-term changes (hours to days) in the atmosphere.
Example of weather?
Temperature: How hot or cold the air is.
Humidity: The amount of moisture in the air.
Precipitation: Water in any form that falls from the sky, like rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
Wind: Moving air, which can vary in speed and direction.
Cloudiness: The presence and type of clouds in the sky.
What’s climate?
Climate is the long-term average of weather patterns in a specific region over many years.
Factors that affect climate?
Climate looks at average conditions over decades, not day-to-day changes like weather.
Factors affecting climate: Latitude, altitude, ocean currents, and geography all influence the climate of a region.
Types of climate?
Types of climates: There are different climate zones, such as:
Tropical (hot and wet)
Desert (dry and hot)
Temperate (mild with seasons)
Polar (cold, with long winters)
Arid (dry with little precipitation)
What’s sea levels rising?
What it is: Sea level rise refers to the increasing height of the Earth’s oceans over time.
Melting ice: As the planet warms, glaciers and ice sheets melt, adding more water to the oceans.
Thermal expansion: As water heats up, it expands, taking up more space and raising sea levels.
What’s the impact?
Impact: Rising sea levels can lead to coastal flooding, erosion, and loss of habitats for plants, animals, and even human communities.
What’s ocean acidity?
What it is: Ocean acidity refers to the decrease in the pH of seawater, making it more acidic.
Cause: As more CO₂ is released into the atmosphere, a large portion of it gets absorbed by the oceans. When CO₂ dissolves in water, it forms carbonic acid, which lowers the pH of the water.
What’s the ocean acidity impact?
Impact: Increased acidity can be harmful to marine life, especially organisms with calcium carbonate shells or skeletons, like coral reefs, shellfish, and plankton. It can also disrupt marine food chains and ecosystems.
How are sea levels rise and ocean acidity related?
Both problems are caused by too much CO₂ in the atmosphere from human activities (like burning fossil fuels).
More CO₂ leads to warmer temperatures (raising sea levels) and more acidic oceans.
What’s an ocean current?
An ocean current is a flow of water in the ocean that moves in a certain direction. It is like a river, but in the ocean.
What are the causes,types, and importance of ocean currents?
Causes: Ocean currents are mainly caused by wind, the Earth’s rotation, and temperature differences in the water.
Types: There are surface currents (near the top of the ocean) and deep currents (far below the surface).
Importance: Ocean currents help distribute heat, control the climate, and bring nutrients for marine life.
How does ocean currents affect climate change?
Ocean currents affect climate change by moving heat around the planet.
How does ocean currents affect climate change? Pt2
Heat Distribution: Ocean currents carry warm water to cold places and cold water to warmer places, helping to balance global temperatures.
Weather: They influence storms and weather patterns. For example, warm currents can make storms stronger, and cold currents can weaken them.
CO₂ Absorption: The oceans absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂), but if currents change, they might absorb less CO₂, making climate change worse.
Ice Melting: Warm currents can melt ice in the poles, which raises sea levels.
How does increasing the temperature impact Canadian health?
In short, increasing temperatures can harm Canadians’ health by causing more heat-related illnesses, worsening air quality, spreading diseases, affecting water and food safety, and impacting mental health.
How to read a climatograph?
- X-Axis (Horizontal):
Shows the months of the year (January to December). - Y-Axis (Left):
Shows temperature (usually in Celsius or Fahrenheit). - Y-Axis (Right):
Shows precipitation (usually in millimeters or inches). - Temperature Line:
The line graph shows how hot or cold it is each month. - Precipitation Bars:
The bars show how much rain or snow falls each month.
