1. Unit 2: Climate
Due 9/17/2015

2. Climate vs. Weather Climate and Weather are not the same thing.
Weather is the condition of the atmosphere in one place over a short period of time.
Climate is the average weather conditions in a specific location over many years.
Climate is affected by the Earth’s tilt towards the sun.
Axis is currently tilted at 23.5 degrees
Not all places receive the same amount of sunlight – less sunlight means cooler temperatures
Generally cooler at night that during the day

3. Seasons Earth makes on revolution around the sun ever 365 days – year.
Because the Earth’s revolution and axis tilt affects the amount of sunlight it receives, we have seasons.
Seasons are reversed in Southern Hemisphere.
Two equinoxes a year – the Sun is directly over the Equator
Equal day and night – Vernal (Spring) and Autumnal (Fall)
When Sun is over the Tropic of Cancer – beginning of Summer
When Sun is over the Tropic of Capricorn – beginning of Winter
Remember this is reversed in South Hemisphere

4. Midnight sun
Polar phenomenon where six months of the year are either dark or daylight.
Midnight sun – daylight or dusky
Experience by some people in North America (Alaska and Canada) and Northern Europe (Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia

5. Greenhouse effect Not all of the sun’s rays get through the atmosphere
Would be to hot to survive
Radiation would be toxic
50% makes it surface
It is reflected and absorbed by the ‘greenhouse gases’ – methane, carbon dioxide, water vapor –
Regulates earth temperature
Would be below freezing if not
Balance is essential to sustain life

6. Latitude and Climate
The Earth-Sun relationship creates predictable and reliable climate bands around the Earth.
The Koppen System 
Tropical Humid
Seasonally humid
Dry
Semiarid
Desert
Warm Mid Latitude/Mild
Humid
Mediterranean
Marine west coast
Cold Mid Latitudes/Snow
Humid Continental
Subartic
Polar
Ice Cap
Tundra
Elevation affects climate – the higher up, the cooler the climate

7. Koppen’s Climate Bands/Regions
Tropical Climates
Average is 80
Wet/Dry Seasons – agriculture has to mirror these seasons
Dry Climates
Semi-arid –steppes (high, dry plateaus, moderate rain
Dry – desert
10 inches or less of rain
Mid latitude
Forests
Grassland
Most hospitable to human inhabitance
Most populated regions tend to mid/high latitude
High Latitude/Polar
Tundras – flat plains that experience permafrost (soil that is always frozen)
Ice caps are covered in ice that is about 2 miles thick.

8. Wind and Ocean Currents
Wind is very important to climate
Distributes energy around the planet
Can bring in warm or cold air (think fronts in weather)
Ocean currents also distribute energy – distribute warm and cold water geographically
Prevailing winds – consistent wind patterns
Have historically helped with navigation
Coriolis effect – earth’s rotation causes winds to blow diagonally instead of in straight due directions.
Doldrums – patches of very little wind movement – very calm air – usually found around the Equator

9. Wind and Current on Weather
Driven by temperature, condensation causes precipitation – rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
Storms are created when fronts (warm and cold air patterns) meet.
Tropical systems (hurricanes and typhoons) develop along current systems, and are affected by prevailing winds (can predict where they will affect land)
El Nino – periodic change in Pacific Ocean currents and water temperatures – results in high precipitation in the Western Hemisphere, and droughts in the East.

10. Mountains and Climate
Windward – side of mountain facing wind…generally receives precipitation.
Leeward – opposite side…much drier.
Often find deserts on the leeward sides of mountains.

11. Biomes Plant life covers nearly entire land surface of the earth.
Vegetation includes four major groups (called biomes)…
Forest
Savanna
Grassland
Desert

12. Climate Change Any change in factors used to measure and track climate
The Argument:
The Earth goes through natural cycles where it has cooled and reheated – the recent change is not only expected, but part of the Earth’s renewal process.
The growing presence of pollution, fossil fuel emissions causing greenhouse gases to rise, and deforestation is causing the Earth’s temperature to rise dramatically.
The Reality:
Water levels are rising.
The Earth is warming.
Severe weather patterns (heat waves, blizzards, tropical systems) are becoming less predictable and more erratic in their occurrences.