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CHAPTER 2
CLIMATES &
ECOSYSTEMS
SECTION 2: ECOSYSTEMS
WEATHER AND CLIMATE
❖ Weather and Climate
➢ How important are the weather and climate to our everyday lives?
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What determines our weather?
➢ WEATHER - is the condition of the bottom layer of earth’s
atmosphere in one place over a short period of time.
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Troposphere -bottom or first layer above earth’s surface
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Stratosphere - where jets fly
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contains all the weather
absorbs harmful sun rays
Mesosphere - meteors or rocks burn here
Thermosphere - space shuttle orbits
Exosphere - thin layer that merges with space
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Troposphere holds our weather
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multilayered area of gases, water vapor, and dust
WEATHER AND CLIMATE (cont.)
❖ Can weather in one area of earth influence weather in another?
❖ CLIMATE - is the term for the weather patterns that an area
typically experiences over a long period of time.
➢ Dependent on several factors
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Elevation
Latitude
Location of nearby landforms
Bodies of water
➢ Weather and climate are related by different as night and day
WEATHER AND CLIMATE (cont.)
❖ The Sun and the Earth
➢ What is the ultimate source of earth’s climate and of life on earth?
➢ THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT - the amount of radiation that
comes through the atmosphere to warm the land and water
while allowing other radiation to return to space.
■ Due to the amount of sun certain areas get they are either
warmer or colder
■ Have longer days or longer nights
■ Different seasonal change
■ Differing climates
WEATHER AND CLIMATE (cont.)
➢ ROTATION AND REVOLUTION ■ ROTATION - the way in which the earth spins on its axis.
● Invisible line through the earth from pole to pole
● How often does the earth complete a rotation?
■ REVOLUTION - one complete orbit around the sun.
● How long does it take?
365 ¼ days
■ Due to the revolution of the earth we have solstices and equinoxes
● SOLSTICE - The changes in season as marked by summer
and winter (June 21 and December 21).
◆ Sun appears directly over Tropics of Capricorn and
Cancer
● EQUINOX - The changes in season as marked by spring
and fall (March 21 and September 23)
WEATHER AND CLIMATE (cont.)
➢ LATITUDE AND CLIMATE
■ Equator and surrounding areas receive most sunlight year round
■ Geographers use latitude or distance from equator to divide earth
into zones
● Tropic zones - low latitude
◆ hot year round
● Temperate zones - middle latitude
◆ wide range of temperatures
● Polar zones - high latitude
◆ always cool or bitterly cold
WEATHER AND CLIMATE (cont.)
❖ Distributing the Sun’s Heat
➢ This done through a process called convection
■ everything would get hotter or colder
● warm and cold gases
➢ WIND - the movement of atmospheric pressure systems
➢ WIND PATTERNS - in latitude zones temperature and
pressure combine to create patterns of prevailing or dominant
winds.
■ See page 66
➢ CURRENTS - works in the same as the wind, carries warm
water from tropics to poles.
WEATHER AND CLIMATE (cont.)
❖ Precipitation
➢ PRECIPITATION - is all forms of water that fall from the
atmosphere onto the earth’s surface.
■ formed as air temperatures change
● warm less dense air absorbs moisture
● when it cools and cannot contain water vapor
● vapor condenses into a liquid
● tiny droplets gather together and form clouds
● precipitation occurs when clouds have more water than
they can hold
◆ air temperature is deciding factor of type
➢ rain, snow, sleet, and hail
WEATHER AND CLIMATE (cont.)
➢ Convection Precipitation ■ hot humid air rises from earth’s surface and cools
● Equator and tropics
➢ Orographic Precipitation ■ warm moist air forced upward by passing over ligh landforms
● Coastal areas where moist ocean winds blow at mountains
➢ Frontal Precipitation ■ most common type
■ two fronts or air masses of different temperatures meet
WEATHER AND CLIMATE (cont.)
❖ Other Influences on Climate
➢ NEARBY BODIES OF WATER ■ wind picks up the surface water temperature
■ moderate land temperatures
■ result in varying climates
● coastal climates - marine climates ● Continental Climates - areas away from moderating
influence of the oceans
◆ cold snowy winters and hot summers
◆ humidity and precipitation vary
◆ temperatures can reach extremes
WEATHER AND CLIMATE (cont.)
➢ ELEVATION ■ Higher elevations like Mount Kilimanjaro (Equator) is snow capped
year round
■ Has a dramatic effect on climate in highland areas
● Air temperature decreases the higher you get.
➢ NEARBY LANDFORMS ■ coastal mountains
■ desert areas
■ inland mountains
■ lakes
■ forest
■ cities
WEATHER AND CLIMATE (cont.)
❖ World Climate Regions
➢ Many different classifications
➢ Difficult to determine due to lack of weather data in parts of world.
WEATHER AND CLIMATE (cont.)
❖ Changing Climates
➢ Result from changes in nature
➢ Most caused by human action
■ Global Warming - a rise in the earth’s temperature
● carbon dioxide
● increase and decline in precipitation
◆ agricultural areas become desert
● Few scientists theorize that it is due to cyclical changes
CHAPTER 2
CLIMATES &
ECOSYSTEMS
SECTION 2: ECOSYSTEMS
ECOSYSTEMS
ECOSYSTEM - is formed by the interaction
of plant life, animal life and the physical
environment in which they live.
Environmental changes can and typically will
affect an ecosystem.
Biome - used to describe major types of
ecosystems.
FOREST REGIONS
Tropical Rain Forest - located near Equator
Amazon - South America / Congo - Central Africa
consist of a dense canopy
Mid-Latitude Forest - Deciduous
Deciduous - shed leaves in one season
Europe / Eastern North America / Eastern Asia
cleared for agriculture
FOREST REGIONS
Coniferous Forest - located in colder parts of
middle latitudes
Consist of pines, spruces, firs
Coniferous - named after the cones that
protect their seeds.
Northern North America / Europe / Asia
Chaparral - means underbrush or small trees
small evergreen trees / low bushes (CA / MED)
GRASSLANDS
Cover several continents central regions
mix at edges with forests
Tropical Grasslands Savannas - huge tropical grasslands
Herbivores - plant eating animals
Carnivores - meat eating animals
Temperate Grasslands - cooler parts of the world
Prairies - temperate grasslands in North America
DESERTS
Plants and animals have developed to live here
Many animals need little to no water to survive
Tundra - temperatures are always cool or cold
specialized plants only can grow
Permafrost - layer of soil just below surface in
the tundra region