Download Weather and Climate and Soils

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