Michelle Hughes, Madeleine Flores, Lindsey Morgan, and Joshua Baumbach UNIT 7

CLIMATE CHANGE Joshua Baumbach

WWK Know the effects of Greenhouse gasses on climate change on Earth.

Greenhouse Gasses Greenhouse gases trap heat that would normally be reflected back into space, thus warming the earth must more than it would be. This is called the greenhouse effect.

Carbon Dioxide Carbon Dioxide is one of the primary gasses that contributes to climate changes. CO 2 is emitted naturally through the carbon cycle. And also human burning of fossil fuels contributes to the amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere.

Methane Methane is at its most abundant in Earth’s history at this very moment. It is produced by natural processes and by humans.

Nitrous Oxide Nitrous Oxide accounts for about 4% of the greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrogen Oxide is added to the atmosphere through agriculture, cars, factories, and fertilizer for soil.

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Other greenhouse gases Water vapor, tropospheric Ozone 3 (O3), the F-gases all contribute to trapping heat in the atmosphere.

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What is the greenhouse effect? K.S.

Madeleine Flores AIR MASS

WWK What air masses are and how they effect the weather

Types of air mass There are different types of air masses located in regions known as source regions. These air masses tell where they are located and the nature of the region. cP (continental polar) cT (continental tropical) mP (maritime polar) mT (maritime tropical) These are the combinations of Polar, Tropical, Continental, and Maritime

Air masses Polar: Higher altitudes, are more towards the Earths poles, and are usually cold. Tropical: Located in lower altitudes and are usually warm. These are the source regions Continental: is land Maritime: is water These describe the nature of the surface in the source region and also suggest moisture characteristics of the region. Polar and tropicalContinental and Maritime

What Air masses do Water and land either heat or cool the air above them creating air masses. The air has to stay over an area for days, long enough for the air to warm up or cool down as it tries to match the temperature of the around or ocean below. The air can go dry or humid depending on the region it is over.

Effects on weather Air mass weather causes warm fronts and cold fronts. The Earth balances its heat by moving cold water and air from the poles to the tropics. It also works the other way by moving warm water and air from the tropics to the poles. This balance is always going on. The balance also causes other kind of weather to start.

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What is the main kind of weather that air mass weather causes? K.S.

Lindsey Morgan HEAT TRANSFER

WWK how heat is transferred through earth’s atmosphere and hydrosphere and its effect on weather

How does heat effect weather? Different places on our planet have different climates, and therefore the weather also varies. Heat is transferred through the air when masses of air of different temperatures begin to mix, and the hot air rises above the cooler air. The cold mass of air then slides under the warm air, and this creates wind that we experience. Hurricanes are also formed from rapid heat transfer from the tropical sea surface to the atmosphere which produces giant whirlwinds.

How is heat transferred? Convection is the cause of hot air rising into the atmosphere. Radiation, the transfer of heat through electromagnetic waves, is how heat is absorbed into the earth’s surface. Lastly, conduction is responsible for transferring heat from one molecule to another within a substance, whether it be a liquid, gas or solid.

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K.S. WHAT IS ONE WAY HEAT IS TRANSFERRED?

Michelle Hughes NATURAL DISASTERS

We will know how tornadoes and hurricanes form. WWK:

Hurricanes ● Hurricanes are only able to form over very warm water ● The first sign of a hurricane is a cluster of thunderstorms over tropical oceans. ● Three things must happen for a hurricane to form. A continuous evaporation and condensation cycle must take place, patterns of winds that are characterized by the converging winds, and a difference in air pressure between the surface and high altitude.

Hurricanes ● Warm and moist air from the ocean will begin to rise quickly. Surfaces pressures decrease and water vapor condenses and releases energy, or latent heat, into areas where the hurricane is forming. This latent heat causes the air to become less thick. ● The winds that are moving in different directions collide and push warm air down and the humid air up. The rising air backs up the air that is already rising from the surface causing wind speeds of the storm increase.

Tornadoes A tornado is a violently rotating column of air in contact with and spread out between a thunderstorm cloud and the surface of the earth. Several conditions are required for the development of tornadoes: a lot of low level moisture is necessary, and a "trigger," like a cold front. Once the air begins to rise and becomes saturated, it will continue rising to great heights and produce a thunderstorm cloud.

Tornadoes Tornadoes usually form in areas where winds at all levels of the atmosphere are not only strong, but also turn with height in a clockwise direction. Tornadoes can appear as a traditional funnel shape, or in a slender rope-like form. Some have a roiling, smoky look to them. Others contain "multiple vortexes" -- small, individual tornadoes rotating around a common center. Others may even be nearly invisible, with only swirling dust or debris on the ground as the only sign of the tornado's presence.

Vocabulary ● Latent heat- is heat energy that is released during the phase change of water vapor. ● Vortex- a region where the flow is mostly a spinning motion about an imaginary axis.

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Do hurricanes form over warm or cold water? K.S.