Download The Earth`s Curved Surface

Factors that affect Climate
Related to the sun:
1. The Earth's curved Surface
2. The Earth's tilt and rotation
3. The Earth's orbit
Related to the hydrosphere:
1. Moderating affect
2. Heat Transfer - ocean currents
Related to the atmosphere:
1. Moderating affect
2. Heat transfer - wind currents
Related to land formations:
1. Height above sea level
2. Mountains
3. Volcanic Eruptions
4. Continental Drift
The Earth's Curved Surface
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The Earth's Curved Surface
Due to the curved shape of the Earth,
solar radiation strikes its surface at
different angles
Therefore the concentration of light at
different places is unequal
Sunlight that strikes the Earth's surface
at the equator is more concentrated
Sunlight that strikes the poles is spread
over a larger area
The Earth's Tilt and Rotation
The Earth is titled at an angle of 23.5o
As the Earth rotates around the sun, different
areas receive the direct rays of the sun
This accounts for the different seasons
precession of tilt (wobble) = the earth wobbles slowly
over 26 000 years. The direction of the tilt changes
the tilt of the earth changes from 22.1o to 23.5o over a
cycle of 41 000 years
tilt video
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The Earth's Orbit =
eccentricity
The shape of the Earth's orbit around the sun changes
from being nearly circular to eliptical.
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When the Earth's orbit is more elliptical (as it is now),
it receives more solar energy when it is nearest the sun
than when it furthest from the sun.
This affects the length and intensity of the season
This change in shape of the Earth's orbit
occurs over a period of 100 000's years
caused by the pull of Jupiter's and Saturn's gravities
Causes of the Ice Ages
the shape of the orbit, the Earth's tilt and its
wobble add up to cause regular cycles of ice ages
and interglacial periods.
an increase in energy, causing warmer
temperature, creates a warm interglacial period
a decrease in the energy from the sun, causing
lower temperature, creates an ice age
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The Hydrosphere Moderates Temperature
the hydrosphere includes water in all its different
forms on Earth. This includes oceans, rivers, lakes,
ice, snow and even water vapor in the atmosphere.
it takes much more energy to increase the
temperature of water than it does to increase the
temperature of an equal amount of air
this means the hydrosphere can absorb a lot of
energy with little increase in temperature
this helps moderate the air temperature
the ocean acts as a carbon sink, which means it
absorbs and stores carbon dioxide
since carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, removing
from it from the air keeps the earth from getting
too warm.
ocean currents video
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The Hydrosphere Transfers Heat
Deep ocean water moves due to differences in
temperature
cold water sinks, displacing the warm water
around it
salt water also sinks and displaces less salty water
the combined effect is a system of deep water
currents known as the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt
(Gulf Stream)
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The Atmosphere Moderates Temperatures
If we had no atmosphere, temperatures would be
extremely hot during the day and extremely cold at
night
our atmosphere acts as a heat sink (it absorbs and
stores heat)
The Atmosphere Transfers Heat
More direct solar energy is received at lower latitudes
than at higher ones
Therefore, the atmosphere heats up unevenly.
This causes air in the atmosphere to move which
carries heat with it
convection current:
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Height Above Sea Level
Locations at higher altitudes have cooler
temperatures
At higher altitudes the air is less dense.
Air that has less particles is less capable of
retaining heat.
Mountains
Mountains create rain shadows where one side of
the mountain receives most of the precipitation
and the other side very little
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Volcanic Eruptions
spew rocks, dust and gases high into the
atmosphere
The suns radiation is reflected back into space
This has the effect of shading the Earth's
surface and temporarily cooling down the
earth.
Continental Drift
According to the theory of plate tectonics, Earth's
continents have moved over the surface of the globe
for hundreds of millions of years.
The movement of the continents in called
continental drift
Moving continents change the ocean currents and
wind patterns as well as the distribution of land
mass compared to oceans.
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Questions:
1. Describe what our climate would be like if the
earth was a cube instead of sphere?
2. What would our climate be like if the earth did
not rotate on its axis?
3. What would our climate be like if the Earth did
not orbit around the sun?
4. Why do interglacial periods and ice ages keep
happening?
5. Which factors that affect climate are long term?
short term?
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6. Identify a region that is likely to have a cold, dry
climate due to ocean currents.
7. How are convection currents formed?
8. Describe three ways in which plate techtonics and
continental drift might have affected global climate
patterns in the past.
9. How is the climate of a region related to the plants and
wildlife that grow there?
10. Why might Kingston have cooler summers than
Brockville? (we are both at similar latitudes)
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