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4.1-Climate Weather vs. Climate • Weather is the day to day condition of Earth’s atmosphere. • Climate is a regions year after year pattern of temperature and precipitation. Climographs • A Climograph shows the monthly precipitation and temperature. – Patterns of temperature and precipitation can be easily spotted. Philadelphia, PA Long Beach, CA Microclimates • Microclimates are environmental conditions that vary over small distances. • Moss, which needs a wet environment, usually only grows on the north side of trees due to the lack of sunlight they receive. Other Examples of Microclimates The opposing hillsides have contrasting vegetation due to the amounts of sun each receive These manatee are gathering near the hot water that is discharged from a power plant Factors That Affect Climate • Climate is affected by many factors including: – Solar energy – Latitude – Transport of heat by winds – Transport of heat by ocean currents Solar Energy and the Greenhouse Effect Some heat light strikes is is reflected scattered reflected the ground clouds back Earthward in and ourtoatmosphere where isspace reflected by itgreenhouse by as acts the heat. back and toEarth’s warm is to reflected space. gases. it up. back to space. surface. • As the Sun’s light energy enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it can take a number of paths. – Some light strikes the ground where it acts to warm it up. – Some light is scattered in our atmosphere and is reflected back to space. – Some light is reflected back to space by the Earth’s surface. – Some light is reflected back to space as heat. – Some light strikes clouds and is reflected back to space. – Some heat is reflected Earthward by greenhouse gases. • Without this, the Earth would be about 30oC cooler. Latitude • Latitude is a measure of how far north or south of the Equator an area is. – Because the Earth is curved, the Sun’s light gets smeared towards the poles At the Equator • A given amount of light will create a circular patch of light that is very concentrated. At the Poles • The same amount of light will be spread over a larger area. Latitude and Solar Energy • This uneven distribution creates three different clime zones. – The tropical zones surrounding the equator (23.5o N and S of the equator) – The arctic or polar regions (66.5oN or S of the equator to the North and South Poles (90oN and S) – The temperate regions (between 23.5 and 66.5 N and S of the equator) Heat Transport in the Biosphere • Unequal heating of the Earth creates wind and ocean currents which transport heat from the tropics towards the poles. Atmospheric Circulation • At the equator, hot air expands, becomes less dense and rises. • Cooler, denser air from the midlatitude regions rushes in to replace the warm air • Meanwhile, the hot air that has risen, begins to cool and become more dense and begins to sink at around 30oN and S of the equator. • Due to the Coriolis effect, objects traveling are deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere and left in the southern hemisphere Oceanic Circulation • Oceanic circulation is driven by the formation of cold dense water towards the poles. – As water cools, it becomes more dense and sinks. – At the same time, sea ice formation adds salt to the surface water which also make the surface water more dense causing it to sink.