Download Solar - Weather

Solar-Weather-Ocean
Unit Notes
Radiant Energy = from the Sun
• Radiant energy drives changes in
weather & creates different climates.
– Weather changes from day to day.
– Climate = a region’s general pattern of
weather over a long period of time.
• The equator receives the most direct
angle of sunlight, creating the warmest
climates.
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Heating differences
causes there to be
different air masses.
cool air (or water) is
more dense than warm,
so it sinks, creating
currents by convection
sun heats land
and oceans by
radiation
land/ocean
heats the air
above it by
conduction
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Air movements create weather changes.
Air mass = A body of air that has similar pressure,
temperature, & humidity.
•Different air mass pressures cause wind.
• Air moves from high to low pressure areas.
-Generally blow from poles toward equator
-Weather often changes when air pressure changes
-A front is where two air masses meet or collide
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Warm air rises, decreasing
the air pressure.
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Land-Ocean Interactions
Land heats up faster than water (= the ocean).
– The air over the land will also heat quickly.
– Warm air rises, starting a convection current.
– This brings moist ocean air inland.
• Ocean air holds a lot of water vapor.
• Warm air can also hold more water vapor.
– When air cools, it may no longer be able to
hold on to all of the water vapor, forming
clouds & precipitation.
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Vocab !
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• Oceans can also influence weather in
extreme ways, such as in the formation of
hurricanes.
= A low pressure tropical storm that forms over ocean
water.
• Oceans impact climate because they heat
and cool slowly (=good insulator!).
– Land near the ocean is often warmer in winter and
cooler in summer, meaning inland climates differ
from those near the ocean at the same latitude.
• Oceans also impact climate via currents…
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Current – movement of water in the ocean
• Surface currents are affected by  Winds
 Continental deflections
 Coriolis Effect – following the
curve of the Earth as it rotates
• Deep ocean currents are affected by  Temperature differences (density)
 Salinity differences (density)
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Movement of currents is constant and
creates a “global conveyor belt” that
transfers heat from one part of the
Earth to another via water.
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Ocean currents can bring in air of a different
temperature that makes one area on Earth
warmer than another at the same latitude
– Example: Gulf Stream brings warm air into
England, making it warmer than Nova Scotia,
Canada at the same latitude.
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