APES Chapter 6: Climate And Terrestrial Biodiversity

APES Chapter 7: Climate and Terrestrial Biodiversity

Climate is an important factor influencing biodiversity. Think about how it influences life on earth. Contrast climate with weather.

The purpose of this assignment is for you to work through a brief overview of weather and climate on earth. You should be able to define basic weather terms; understand how the terms are connected to each other and also understand how they describe earth’s weather and/or climate. Make sure to read your text, also. Here, you will build a word web; also known as a concept map or brain map.

Connect (link with a line) each word to at least two other words (more is better…it shows a greater depth of understanding). On the link lines, write a short explanation of how or why you are connecting the words…i.e. what do you see as the relationship between the words. Work with a partner so you can talk about what you are doing.

Weather words for your concept map

wind atmospheric tornado El Niño weather pressure hurricane La Niña climate high pressure typhoon greenhouse warm front low pressure cyclone effect cold front dew point seasons mountains rain ocean currents

Here are definitions for each term. Feel free to use textbooks in the classroom for more information. wind The horizontal movement of air over the Earth's surface and one of the basic elements of weather. Thermal differences throughout the world produce variations in air pressure and air will flow generally from high-pressure to low-pressure areas. www.msnucleus.org/membership/html/jh/earth/dictionary/water/definitions.htm weather Term that encompasses phenomena in the troposphere of our planet. Refers to the activity of these phenomena over short periods, such as hours or days. Average atmospheric conditions over significantly longer periods of time (usually taken over a 30-year time period) is known as climate. warm front The transition zone where a warm air mass overtakes and replaces a colder air mass. cold front The transition zone where a colder air mass overtakes and replaces a warmer air mass atmospheric pressure The amount of force exerted over a surface area, caused by the weight of air molecules above it. As elevation increases, fewer air molecules are present. Therefore, atmospheric pressure always decreases with increasing height (units of atm, psi or kPa). high versus low pressure High pressure generally creates cooler, dryer temperatures, with little or no clouds, & low pressure is wetter, cooler temps, more clouds dew point Air holds different amounts of water at different temperatures. The dew point is the temperature to which air with a given quantity of water vapor must be cooled to cause condensation of the vapor in that air. rain Precipitation which forms when separate drops of water fall to the Earth's surface from clouds. Not all rain reaches the surface; some evaporates while falling through dry air. Water from the earth’s surface evaporates back to the atmosphere to form rain.

Tornado A localized and violently destructive windstorm occurring over land. Characterized by a funnel- shaped cloud extending toward the ground/ low pressure air. The most unpredictable weather event, tornadoes are created during powerful thunderstorms. As a column of warm air rises, air rushes in at ground level and begins to spin. If the storm gathers energy, a twisting, spinning funnel develops.

Hurricane The name for a tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 74 miles per hour (65 knots) or greater in the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and in the eastern North Pacific Ocean. Tropical cyclones are known as typhoons in the western Pacific and cyclones in the Indian Ocean. ocean currents any more or less continuous, directed movement of ocean water that flows in one of the Earth's oceans.

El Niño -A warming of the ocean current along the coasts of Peru and Ecuador that is associated with dramatic changes in the weather patterns of the region; a major El Niño event generally occurs every 3 to 7 years and is associated with changes in the weather patterns worldwide. -The flow of warm water eastward from the Pacific Ocean that reverses the upwelling of cold water along the western coast of South America and causes significant global changes in weather patterns.

La Niña episodes are characterized by unusually cold ocean surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, caused by lower than normal pressure over Indonesia and northern Australia and higher than normal pressure over the eastern tropical Pacific. greenhouse effect The sun’s energy is transmitted through the earth’s atmosphere at many wavelengths. Some solar radiation is absorbed by the earth itself, and reradiated back to space at a long wavelength. This long-wave radiation is absorbed by green house gases in the atmosphere and reradiated back to earth. mountains (as they affect weather) As stable air approaches a mountain, it slows down due to the blocking effect of the mountain (similar to the effect of large stones on water flow in rivers). Flow retardation can result in horizontal-mass convergence upstream of the mountain, and may produce upward air motion and cloud formation before the mountain slope is reached.

Or, the stable airflow may be forced to flow upslope and over the mountain top on the windward side, and then descend to its original level on the lee side. Disturbances in the flow on the lee side and downstream of the mountains can play a major role in cloud and precipitation formation as well.