Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it. - Charles Dudley Warner METO 200 Spring 2002

Outline for Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 Weather and Climate Atmospheric Hazards The Atmosphere a Part of the Earth System Composition of the Atmosphere Ozone Depletion Height and Structure of the Atmosphere The Carbon Cycle

Ancient Greeks may have made the first attempt at climate classification. They devised a simple scheme of based on Earth-Sun relationships ° N 23.5 ° S WINTERLESS SUMMERLESS INTERMEDIATE

German climatologist Wladimir Köppen devised a system to present the general world patterns climate. The system uses easily obtained data. Q. Any guess what criteria might be used? A. precipitation temperature

Humid Tropical Dry Humid middle-latitude mild winters Humid middle-latitude severe winters Polar

Typical Weather Map Mean Percentage of possible sunshine for November Typical Climatology Map

Go to weather hazard images now……….

The Atmosphere as Part of the Earth System. Earth’s Fours Spheres: - Atmosphere - Lithosphere - Hydrosphere - Biosphere

Atmosphere The life giving gaseous envelope surrounding Earth

Lithosphere The outer shell of Earth’s Surface

Hydrosphere The water portion of our the planet

….jungles in South America, grasslands and forests in North America, fish and kelp and whales in the ocean, birds in the air, animals on the farms, and people! Biosphere

Dry Wet

Where there is water, there is weather

Most weather processes takes place in the Troposphere

1. Troposphere- literally means region where air “turns over” -temperature usually decreases (on average ~6.5°C/km) with altitude 2. Stratosphere- layer above the tropopause, little mixing occurs in the stratosphere, unlike the troposphere, where “turbulent mixing” is common 3. Mesosphere- defined as the region where temperature again decreases with height. 4. Thermosphere- region with very little of the atmosphere’s mass. high energy radiation received by the thermosphere (high temperatures experienced). A small density of molecules (not much “heat” would be felt). Tropopause Stratopause Mesopause

In meteorology it is helpful to refer to altitude as a certain pressure value rather than a height. 850 mb  1500 m (5000 ft) 700 mb  3000 m (10,000 ft) 500 mb  5500 m (18000) 300 mb  9000 m (30,000)

The Jet Stream (located near the top of the troposphere) is important in the transfer of moisture (and energy) around the globe and, therefore, central to weather processes.

500 mb is convenient to look at because this about the Middle of the tropopause.

700 mb is a location in the tropopause where vertical motion is often measured.

850 mb is good place to look for temperature changes….any thoughts why?

Weather at the Earth’s surface is what we are interested in, but, processes aloft dictate our weather.

N2N2 ArCO 2 O2O2 Inert Gases H2H2 N2ON2O CH 4 Trace Gases O3O3 CO SO2, NO2 C FC’s Tropospheric Composition