Download Geography 12

Chapter 8 Objectives:
Geography 12
Worksheet 8.7

Key

8.7 Climatic Controls: Altitude
Read pages 152 – 153 of Planet Earth: A Physical Geography. Answer
the following questions:
Vocabulary (1 mark each)
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Environmental Lapse Rate:
The rate at which air temperatures decrease with altitude. In stable air, the lapse rate is
6.4 C per 1000 meters.
Sensible Heat Flux:
The movement of heat in the atmosphere by convection currents in the
air.
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Short Answer (2 marks each)
1. Since solar radiation does not convert into heat until it is absorbed
by a body, how does the atmosphere heat up?

Understand the relationship
between weather and
climate
Understand important terms
that are associated with the
study of climate
Appreciate the importance
of classifying climatic
conditions in various ways
Recognize that the climatic
patterns on earth are
complex and that they
result from a wide variety
of interacting forces which
include the earth’s basic
motions, the earth’s
surface features, and the
arrangement of the earth’s
land masses and water
bodies
Identify the importance of
the sun in powering climatic
systems
Appreciate that our
understanding of climate
and weather is still
developing and that many
theories have yet to be
proven to be true
Appreciate the extreme
variability and complexity
of the earth’s climates
Examine ways that humans
both influence and are
influenced by climate an
weather
The land heats up and warms the atmosphere from below by radiating longwave radiation to the
atmosphere.
Heat is distributed upwards to the atmosphere by warm convection currents of air generated at the
surface…called sensible heat flux.
2. Why is the air warmer at lower elevations than at higher elevations? (1 mark)
At lower elevations the air is more dense and contains more molecules of air, water vapor, dust,
pollen etc than it does at higher elevations. Atmosphere at sea level is able to absorb more solar
radiation and longwave radiation.
3. How high must a mountain at the equator be in order to have snow year round if
the average maximum temperature in the hot month is 31C?
4900 m (use the spreadsheet)
4. Graph the temperatures in the following chart to illustrate the influence altitude
has on temperature. (10 marks)
Station
Latitude
Altitude Above
Sea Level
(m)
Average
Annual Daily
Maximum
Temperature
(C)
Average
Annual Daily
Minimum
Temperature
(C)
Guayaquil,
Ecuador
Pandang,
Indonesia
Douala,
Cameroon
Mogadishu,
Somalia
Manaus, Brazil
Kisangani,
Zaire
Kisumu, Kenya
Rubona,
Rwanda
Kabale, Uganda
Quito, Ecuador
2S
6
31
20
0
7
31
23
4N
8
29
23
2N
12
30
24
3S
0
44
418
32
30
24
20
0
2S
1148
1706
28
25
18
14
1S
0
1871
2879
23
22
10
8
3500
30
3000
25
2500
20
Altitude
2000
15
1500
10
1000
5
500
0
G
ua
y
Pa aq u
nd il,
E
a
Do ng, cua
d
u I
M ala nd o or
og ,
n
a d Ca es
ish me ia
u
r
M , S oon
an o
Ki a u mal
ia
sa s,
n g Br
Ki an az
su i, il
Ru mu Za
bo , K ire
e
n
Ka a , ny
R
ba w a
a
l
Q e , U nd
a
ui
to ga
, E nd
cu a
ad
or
0
Altitude
Place
Guayaquil, Ecuador
6
Pandang, Indonesia
Douala, Cameroon
Mogadishu, Somalia
Manaus, Brazil
Kisangani, Zaire
Kisumu, Kenya
Rubona, Rwanda
7
8
12
44
418
1148
1706
Kabale, Uganda
Quito, Ecuador
1871
2879
Average
Daily
Temperature
Max
25.5
27
26
27
28
25
23
31
20
31
29
30
32
30
28
25
23
23
24
24
20
18
14
23
22
10
8
19.5
16.5
15
Min
Average Daily
Temperature