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Weather and Climate and Soils Unit 2 What in the WORLD!?!?!? ▪ B2. Interrelationships between Physical Systems, Processes, and Events: analyse characteristics of various physical processes, phenomena, and events affecting Canada and their interrelationship with global physical systems ▪ B1. The Physical Environment and Human Activities: analyse various interactions between physical processes, phenomena, and events and human activities in Canada Questions to think about… ▪ How do the natural characteristics of Canada influence human activity, and how might human activity influence Canada’s natural characteristics? ▪ In what ways do Earth’s natural processes, phenomena, and events influence Canada’s natural characteristics? Climate vs Weather ▪Weather is the day to day changes in temperature, precipitation, wind and cloud cover ▪Climate is the long term averages of these day to day changes over a long period of time. Usually years and decades Climate ▪Important! Understand: ▪ Canada is a very large country and within it there are several types of climates for different regions ▪North vs South vs Inland vs Coastal Climate ▪Factors that affect climate: LOWER-Near water ▪ Latitude ▪ Ocean currents ▪ Winds (air masses, jet streams) ▪ Elevation ▪ Relief ▪ Near water Climate ▪Latitude (lateral = side) ▪Helpful in determining how warm a climate is ▪What do we already know about the far north and the far south? ▪Rule is, the farther from the equator, the less direct sunlight you get Climate ▪The further north or south you are from the equator, the less direct sunlight the area receives (leading to colder climates) ▪At the equator, sunlight is pretty constant all year round and therefore the climate is much warmer Climate ▪Ocean currents ▪Oceans are great movers of heat ▪Sunlight warms the water in tropical areas and the natural currents around the world transport that heat as they move further north or south ▪The Gulf Stream is a perfect example of being the “heater” for the European nations ▪It is water that is warmed by the tropical areas, then it travels northward along the coast of North America, then “bounces” to Europe. ▪As it travels, it moves the warm water with it and the wind blows the radiating warmth off the water and onto land keeping it moderate in terms of temperature ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu GrBhK2c7U ▪Keys to Ocean currents and climate: ▪ Warm/cold water currents circulate the earth. ▪ The air with these water currents is either warmed or cooled. ▪ The wind then blows these warm/cold air masses over the land ▪ Prince Rupert BC, vs Cartwright NFLD Climate ▪Winds (air masses, jet streams) ▪An air mass is a large “balloon” of air that is made up of the air from the climate of its source area ▪Examples: ▪Air masses forming over an ocean is very wet or damp ▪Air masses forming over land are much drier ▪Air masses move slowly and travel based on the wind patterns of the day to day weather ▪A hot and dry air mass could linger over an area for several days leading to a “heat wave” ▪That air mass then moves away, and is replaced by a new air mass with completely different characteristics giving different weather ▪Air masses are named by their Moisture and Temperature ▪Maritime = Wet ▪Continental = Dry ▪Tropical = Hot ▪Polar = Cool to cold ▪Arctic = VEEERY Cold ▪ Air across the earth moves from areas of high pressure to low pressure ▪This movement of air masses, give us our Wind ▪Remember Convection!?!?!? ▪Well the process is similar with air masses. Hot air rises and cold air sink ▪This creates different Air Pressures within the air masses. ▪Cold air sinking = High pressure ▪Warm air rising = Low air pressure ▪Where the warm air rises (low pressure) much like convection, the air fans out and separates (remember divergent). ▪Air masses diverging = Low Pressure areas ▪Where the warm diverging air begins to cool and sink, we have “converging air” and the sinking air creates high pressure areas ▪ The earth has an established set of low and high pressure areas creating “wind belts” ▪ Affecting Canada, is what we call the Westerlies (our weather generally comes from the west) ▪ Important to understand! The boundaries of these pressure areas are not fixed! Along the boundaries they sometimes are sucked up or pushed down into the other pressure zone! ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =H5ddsh9Kea0 ▪When 2 air masses collide together, we have what is called a “Front” ▪Fronts are where our weather generally occurs! ▪More on this laterrrrrr ▪Elevation ▪The higher you go in altitude, the colder it gets (think about why there is ice on top of a mountain and there is no ice at the bottom) ▪BUT ARENT WE GETTING CLOSER TO THE SUN!?!?! ▪Yes, BUT! Physics explains why it gets colder… ▪As you increase in altitude, the air pressure decreases as there is less air on top of the air ▪A decrease in pressure allows air to expand and cool ▪If moisture is not present in the air mass, air cools at 1 degree Celsius/100m (10 degrees/km) ▪If moisture is present in the air, it cools more slowly (0.6 degrees/100m, or 6degrees/km) ▪Moisture in the air is called Humidity ▪“it is very humid out!” ▪“Its like a dry heat” ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs l5yQsinlY Humidity ▪Air has the ability to hold water vapor (water in a gas state) ▪The temperature of the air determines how much or how little the air mass can hold ▪Warm air = more (heat expands) ▪Cold air = less (cold shrinks) ▪Humidity is a measure of the ratio of water to air ▪The moisture comes from evaporation of the Earth’s water systems ▪Air that is 100% filled with vapor is viewed as 100% Humidity. If the air mass is half filled of air and half filled of vapor the humidity is seen at 50% ▪ When a warm air mass that hold a lot of moisture cools rapidly, the air mass shrinks, but the water content remains the same ▪ If it is cooled enough, the water vapor will condense into actual water droplets ▪ This is called Dew ▪ Humidity/dew is important to climate as it helps keep moisture in the air and is a source of water to plants to keep vegetation alive. It is ALSO important to precipitation (rain/snow) Relief ▪Relief is referring to the shape of the surface of the land ▪Talking about height differences ▪Relief affects precipitation levels in a region ▪There are two sides, a windward side and a leeward side ▪Windward sides are the sides that face the wind ▪These windward sides receive all of the precipitation ▪The leeward side is known as the “Rain shadow” where very little precipitation falls ▪These regions form because the rising warm moist air on the windward side is forced up the side of the mountain ▪As we learned; as warm moist air rises, it cools and condenses to form clouds and precipitation ▪Once the rain is dropped, there is little to no moisture left so the Leeward side remains dry, forming the “rain shadow” ▪Pg 60 example with the western cordillera ▪Also, Hanover Ontario (near Lake Huron) received an average of 271cm of snow per year ▪Bradford Ontario receives less than half at about 250cm. Bradford is only 115km East of Hanover ▪The only difference is that Bradford is on the leeward side of glacial moraines that formed many years ago Near Water ▪ How close you live to water affects your climate ▪ Water has a moderating effect on the nearby land ▪ Winters are milder, and summers tend to be a tad cooler ▪ This makes the average annual temperature range quite small ▪Vancouver = July – December temp ▪= 18 – 3.6 ▪= 14.4 degrees Celsius ▪In addition to this, coastal regions also receive large amounts of precipitation (Vancouver – 1189mm) ▪This forms what we call a Maritime Climate ▪Low annual temp ranges mixed with high precipitation ▪Annual temp range = temperature of the warmest month – temperature of the coldest month ▪Areas away from water experience continental climate ▪Land heats and cools more quickly than water so the temperature range is greater and more extreme ▪Example: Regina (annual temp range is 31 degrees Celsius) (18.9-[-12.4]=31.3degrees) ▪A unique case is the Great Lakes area ▪They are far away from oceans but the bodies of water are so large, they moderate the temperature and influence precipitation just as well as an ocean (so long as the lakes do not freeze, otherwise it acts like land) ▪We call this climate a modified continental climate ▪Work on questions ▪1 – 5 (no) ▪1,2,4a,b,c,5,a,b (yes) page 61 ▪Work on Pg 63 ▪1-3 Why should we care? ▪Why should we study the temperatures and precipitation levels? Disasters and their Impact on Canadian Communities Tornadoes ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =mclPB06sCYY ▪Hundreds to Thousands of tornadoes form annually in the southern region of the United States that is known as “Tornado Alley” Hurricanes ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =Wk_FVXVnE2I Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Sandy Damage ▪Damages from severe weather ranges from the thousands (weak storms) to the billions! (strong storms) Patterns and trends… Earthquakes Volcanoes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= lMLo0E66O8A ▪Why would people want to live in these areas that are prone to natural disasters? ▪http://news.discovery.com/human/psy chology/calculated-risk-why-peoplelive-in-disaster-zones-151006.htm ▪https://www.washingtonpost.com/r ealestate/big-risk-of-living-inknown-natural-disasterareas/2011/05/16/AFj1vq7G_story.ht ml Should we rebuild? Move? Or Leave it alone? ▪http://www.npr.org/2013/11/18/24594924 4/how-and-where-should-we-rebuildafter-natural-disasters ▪http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/these-communities-decided-not-torebuild-after-disaster-137249426/?no-ist ▪http://www.earthmagazine.org/arti cle/voices-should-science-dictatewhether-rebuild-after-naturaldisaster ▪(Last Paragraph) What can we do to protect ourselves? Use google and the web to answer the following questions 1. What is emergency Management? How does it work? 2. What are some ways we prevent and mitigate the threat to damages sustained by a natural disasters? 3. What emergency procedures are put in place before/during/after a disaster strikes? Can humans be to blame for Natural Disasters? ▪Seems silly, but it is possible we account for many “natural” disasters ▪How? Fracking ▪Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =Uti2niW2BRA ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =RVp3z7itKKo ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =ekG_UnBCRNc ▪Fracking studies have shown that it results in earthquakes and seismic activity ▪The process of withdrawing the natural resources from the earth is causing damage Deforestation and Landslides ▪ Landslide – sliding of land down a hill at high speeds ▪ Landslides carry with it large and small rocks, mud, trees, houses cars, and anything that stands in its way ▪ Deforestation – the clear cutting of large areas of trees ▪ Deforestation is used to harvest resources, and to clear areas for development ▪https://www.you tube.com/watch ?v=JrV4uCVwmf k ▪Landslides occur when the loose soil becomes too wet and becomes liquefied ▪It then flows down the hill like water (due to its water content) ▪Large trees and their roots hold the soil together ▪Removing the trees causes the roots to die and rot away leaving “holes” and spaces in the rock ▪Heavy rains cause these gaps to be filled with water increasing the water content of the soil ▪Trees also act like umbrellas or canopies to help spread out the falling water ▪Removing these trees increases the water content ▪Debris left behind from the logging helps water pool in areas as it can block the natural drainage system ▪http://people.uwec.edu/jolhm/eh2/rogge/ clear_cutting_and_its_effects_on.htm Sinkholes ▪Large holes that open up in the earth and swallow up anything that is sitting on top of it ▪Are common where the rock below the land surface is limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks that can naturally be dissolved by the groundwater ▪Dissolved rock leaves a void (empty space) that when the ground is softened with large amounts of water (flooding, rain, leaking irrigation systems) ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =pW4niTkVck8 ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =6RC9LP9lq5Y ▪ Humans are also responsible for the formation of sinkholes. ▪ Activities like drilling, mining, construction, broken water or drain pipes, improperly compacted soil after excavation work or even heavy traffic can result in small to large sinkholes. ▪ Water from broken pipes can penetrate through mud and rocks and erode the ground underneath and cause the sinkhole Changes in Climate and its effect on us Global Warming ▪Aside from melting glaciers and raising water levels, there are many other issues that arise from a warmer climate Loss of Permafrost ▪Permafrost is ground that is frozen all year round ▪Perma = permanent ▪Frost = frozen ▪Why might this be bad? ▪Well… ▪Permafrost covering almost a quarter of the northern hemisphere contains 1,700 gigatonnes of carbon, twice that currently in the atmosphere, and could significantly amplify global warming should thawing accelerate as expected, according to a new report released today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) ▪Warming permafrost can also radically change ecosystems and cause costly infrastructural damage due to increasingly unstable ground ▪Thawing permafrost is structurally weak, resulting in foundational settling that can damage or even destroy buildings, roads, pipelines, railways and power lines. ▪Infrastructure failure can have dramatic environmental consequences, as seen in the 1994 breakdown of the pipeline to the Vozei oilfield in Northern Russia, which resulted in a spill of 160,000 tonnes of oil, the world's largest terrestrial oil spill. Ice Roads What are they? ▪http://www.ihsa.ca/pdfs/magazine/ volume_11_Issue_4/ice_roads.pdf ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =n2rX5WqyUEA ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =OUEVle_yw2Y Other effects… ▪How do warmer temperatures affect skiing businesses? ▪How about plants and animals relying on the cold temperatures? ▪Maple Syrup? Ideas and Beliefs about Canada’s Natural Environment Views on the Environment ▪Aboriginal Canadians ▪ Aboriginal people define their relationship as belonging to the land ▪ "we, as Native people, are part of the ecosystem. We are not observers, not managers; our role is to participate as a part of the ecosystem". (Johnson, 1997: 3) As such, humans co-exist with fauna and flora, with equal rights to life. ▪Corporate Canada Says – the environment has natural resources for our use, and resources can be sold to make money and boost the economy ▪Taking from the earth is OK as long as its not hurt. Can this be fixed? How about this? Or this? Keystone Pipeline ▪Find out: ▪What it is/what is its purpose ▪What are some of the views on it ▪What are the problems with it ▪What are the benefits ▪What is being done to solve the issue Keystone Pipeline ▪A proposed plan to build a connecting pipe from Alberta to Texas to transport oil The debate… ▪https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =RU-Y_VEhbj8