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Chapter 24.7 Study Guide
Chapter 24-7: Climate
Vocabulary
Climate
El Nino
Greenhouse
Effect
Carbon Cycle
Milankovitch
Cycles
Reservoir
Snowball Earth
Albedo
Isotope
Concepts:
Climate Factors
 What factors determine a region’s climate?
 Describe climate of the following climate zones in general terms (hot & dry, cool & rainy, etc.):
o Desert
o Polar
o Temperate Continental
o Temperature Marine
o Tropical
o Highlands

How is temperature affected by:
o Latitude
o Altitude/Elevation
o Proximity to a large body of water
o Influence of warm or cold surface currents

How is precipitation affected by:
o Latitude
o Leeward/Windward side of Mountain
o Global wind patterns
o Global Pressure Systems (Highs & Lows)

Be able to make predictions about a location’s climate based on map data that includes latitude, altitude, etc.
Climate Change
Short term
 El Nino
o What is it?
What causes it?
How does it affect climate/weather?
How often?
Long term
Ice Ages & Glaciation
 What is an ice age?
 What is “Snowball Earth”? Cause? Role of albedo in triggering snowball? What ended this glaciation?
 What happens to sea level when ice sheets advance? Retreat?
 How can sediment cores be used to determine the timing of ice ages?
o Interpreting oxygen isotope ratios (lab)

Be able to discuss/explain possible causes for ice ages:
o Milankovitch cycles: changes in the amount of solar radiation Earth gets from sun due to changes in 1).
Orbit shape; 2). Tilt; 3) Wobble on axis
o Solar Cycles (changes in amount of solar energy from sun/sun spots)
o Volcanic eruptions (why? Short term effect)
o Tectonics: Uplift/Mt. Building and exposure of new land for chemical weathering
o Changes in patterns of ocean circulation (Thermohaline circulation)
o Increased photosynthesis (Snowball Earth)
Global Warming & Greenhouse Effect
o What is the greenhouse effect? How does it work? Name a greenhouse gas.
o How do scientists determine the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere in the past?
o Evidence for Global Warming = ???
o What activities do humans engage in that cause/accelerate global warming?
o Results/consequences of global warming?
Carbon Cycle & Climate Change
o If carbon is never added or removed from the carbon cycle on Earth, why/how are temperatures increasing?
o What are the reservoirs for carbon?
o Which form of carbon affects global warming directly?
o Give examples of how carbon moves from the:
o Atmosphere  hydrosphere
o Hydrosphere  geosphere
o Hydrosphere  biosphere
o Biosphere geosphere
o Geosphere  atmosphere
o Identify processes of the carbon cycle that cause increases in CO2 and warming.
o Identify processes of the carbon cycle that cause decreases in CO2 and cooling.
BIG IDEA:
Why is it difficult to determine what Earth’s normal climate is?