Climate And Weather Definitions Climate The general or

Climate And Weather

Definitions: Climate • The general or average weather conditions of a certain region, including temperature, rainfall, and wind. On Earth, climate is most affected by latitude, the tilt of the Earth's axis, the movements of the Earth's wind belts, the difference in temperatures of land sea, and topography. http: //www. countrywatch. com/imgs/global_thematic/Global_Climates. gif

Definitions: Weather • The state of the atmosphere at a given time and place, with respect to variables such as temperature, moisture, wind velocity, and barometric pressure. http: //www. filebuzz. com/software_screenshot/full/33905 -weather_station_on_your_pc. jpg

Sun Drives Weather • Solar energy strikes the Earth, heating unevenly • Water moderates climate – takes a great deal of energy to increase water’s temperature http: //www. solstation. com/stars/sol 1. jpg

Earth’s Tilt • Earth currently tilted 23. 5 degrees • Summer and winter solstice, sun in direct line with the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn • Autumn and Spring Equinox, crosses the Equator • Seasons http: //www. divulgence. net/Axial. Tilt. jpg

Solar Radiation http: //www. geography. hunter. cuny. edu/~tbw/wc. notes/2. heating. earth. surface/images/sunangle. changes. 3. angles. jpg

Solar Energy • Coriolis Effect Pattern of Energy Distribution • Cosine Law More energy received at equator than at poles http: //www. geo. arizona. edu/Antevs/ecol 438/lect 03 a. html

Earth’s Orbit Around the Sun http: //www. geo. arizona. edu/Antevs/ecol 438/lect 03 a. html

Atmosphere • Enough gravity to hold onto atmosphere – – 78. 08% nitrogen (mw 14) 20. 95% oxygen (mw 16) 0. 93% argon (mw 18) 0. 038% carbon dioxide (mw 22) – trace amounts of other gases including water vapor http: //itl. chem. ufl. edu/2041_f 97/matter/FG 10_001. GIF

Troposphere • Lowest layer of the atmosphere; • Begins at the surface and extends to between 7 km (23, 000 ft) at the poles and 17 km (60, 000 ft) at the equator • Great deal of vertical mixing due to solar heating at the surface. • Contains roughly 80% of the total mass of the atmosphere. http: //mediatheek. thinkquest. nl/~ll 125/images/atmos. jpg

Stratosphere • Extends from troposphere 7 to 80 km (23, 000 – 60, 000 ft) range to about 50 km (160, 000 ft). • Temperature increases with height. • Contains the ozone layer (few parts per million) http: //mediatheek. thinkquest. nl/~ll 125/images/atmos. jpg

Mesosphere • Extends from about 50 km (160, 000 ft) to ~100 km (265, 000 – 285, 000 ft) • Temperature decreasing with height. • Most meteors burn up when entering the atmosphere. http: //mediatheek. thinkquest. nl/~ll 125/images/atmos. jpg

Thermosphere • From ~100 km (265, 000 – 285, 000 ft) to 640+ km (400+ mi) • Temperature increasing with height. http: //mediatheek. thinkquest. nl/~ll 125/images/atmos. jpg

Ionosphere • Ionized by solar radiation. • Plays an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere. • Influences radio propagation to distant places on the Earth. • Responsible for auroras http: //mediatheek. thinkquest. nl/~ll 125/images/atmos. jpg

Exosphere • From 500 – 1000 km (300 – 600 mi) up to 10, 000 km (6, 000 mi) • free-moving particles that may migrate into and out of the magnetosphere or the solar wind. http: //mediatheek. thinkquest. nl/~ll 125/images/atmos. jpg

Nitrogen Cycle • Atmospheric nitrogen is ~78% of all gases • Not available to organisms • Some bacteria can fix nitrogen • Once triple bond broken, can bond with 1 oxygen – Nitrous oxide, a GHG http: //cache. eb. com/eb/image? id=6537&rend. Type. Id=4

O Zone (O 3) • Until Ozone formed, life on land could not survive • Blocks most ultraviolet light that can break molecular bonds • Out of every 10 million air molecules, 3 are ozone http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ozone http: //blog. lib. umn. edu/tupp 0008/environment/uvrayjp. gif

Greenhouse Gas • No life on Earth without Greenhouse gas • Some solar radiation reflected by Earth & atmosphere • Some radiation, after reaching Earth is trapped – greenhouse gas • Result – increase temperature • Greenhouse (1. 04 min) http: //www. environment. gov. za/Climate. Change 2005/Greenhouse_Gases_and_the_Greenhouse_Effect_files/gh. jpg

Temperature http: //www. climate-charts. com/World-Climate-Maps. html

Rainfall http: //www. climate-charts. com/World-Climate-Maps. html

Major Wind Currents http: //www. climate-charts. com/World-Climate-Maps. html

Air Patterns • Warm air holds more water vapor than cold air • Warm air rises; cold air sinks • Warm air is low pressure; cold air is high pressure http: //www. physicalgeography. net/fundamentals/images/surfacecirculation. gif

30ºN – Tropics – 30ºS • Moist air in tropics rises, cools in upper atmosphere, drops back down. • Cool dry air descends around 30º, sweeps along desert regions, picking up any moisture, and returns to tropics. http: //oceanmotion. org/images/background/hadley-cloud. jpg

Tropical and Desert Regions Equatorial Heat http: //www. geo. arizona. edu/Antevs/ecol 438/lect 03 a. html

Arctic and Temperate Regions http: //pdf. comnap. aq/comnap. nsf/c_ops_met 1. jpg http: //maps. grida. no/library/files/projected_changes_in_the_arctic_climate__091. jpg

Put It Together and What Do You Get? http: //www. metoffice. gov. uk/education/secondary/students/forecasting/Weather_Forecasting. gif

Climate Labs • How does Portland, OR temperature compare to other places around the world located – – Portland, OR Buenos Aires Argentina, Sydney, Australia Madrid, Spain http: //web. mit. edu/kenta/www/one/world-map. png

http: //lovebenin. com/images/world_map. gif

Control for Variables • All sites located ~ 45º latitude. • All sites located close to ocean • 2 sites southern hemisphere, 2 sites northern hemisphere – Note: Southern Hemisphere difficult – mostly ocean – On the internet, you can pick specific locations at 45º http: //web. mit. edu/kenta/www/one/world-map. png

Design • Sample temperatures from Portland, OR; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sydney, Australia; and Madrid, Spain • Graph highs and lows by date • Compare each http: //atlas. nrcan. gc. ca/site/english/learningresources/lesson_plans/high_school/nfld_hs_temperature_chart. gif

Results • Any variation in results would be wind patterns, location of land mass, topography, long term fluctuations (droughts, unseasonably wet, etc. )

Questions?

Predicting Weather by Clouds www. ussartf. org/predicting_weather. htm By: India Reynolds

What is Weather is the wind, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, cloudiness, and precipitation.

Pred ictin g. W eath er • The instruments used to measure and predict the weather include; • Barometer to measure humidity • Anemometers to measure wind speed • weather vanes to measure wind direction • weather satellites, rockets, radar

Anemometer Meteorologists use anemometers to measure wind speed.

Weather vane • Wind vanes tell you from which direction the wind is blowing. • Knowing where the wind is coming from might give you clues to the temperature and the amount of water in the air www. geographyhigh. connectfree. co. uk/wd 1. gif moving into an area.

Nimbus - Weather Satellite WEATHER SATELLITES • abyss. uoregon. edu/~js/ images/nimbus 1. gif are used to photograph and track large-scale air movements. Then meteorologists compile and analyze the data with the help of computers. abyss. uoregon. edu/~js/images/nimbus 1. gif

Weather Radar • Radar is an electronic instrument, which determines the direction and distance of objects that reflect radio energy back to the radar site. It stands for Radio Detection and Ranging. www. weather. gov. hk/wservice/tsheet/radmet 1. jpg

Forecasting the Weather • Weather forecasting can be as simple as observation. • You can look up at the clouds. • Clouds can tell you many things about what the weather will do • High, wispy clouds usually mean good weather. • Overcast sky means rain or snow is on the way.

Cloud Classification • Clouds are generally classified based on characteristics, such as, altitude, appearance, or origin. Altitude distinctions apply to those clouds that fit in various layers of the atmosphere as follows: • • • high clouds - have bases above 18, 000 feet middle clouds - have bases between 7, 000 and 18, 000 feet low clouds - have bases below 7, 000 feet

http: //interactive. usc. edu/members/jchen/cloudchart. gif

Cumulus clouds • Cumulus clouds are puffy. • They have flat bottoms and are low in the sky. • Cumulus clouds usually mean fair weather. • If they grow tall, they can become thunderheads and bring rain.

Cirrus clouds • Cirrus clouds are the highest clouds. • They usually mean fair weather. • Cirrus clouds look white and feathery. http: //www. weatherwizkids. com/cloud. htm. Science/clouds 65 0. JPG

Stratus clouds • Stratus clouds are the low clouds. • Fog is a stratus cloud at ground level. • They look like a low gray blanket. • Stratus clouds bring rain or snow. arm 2. static. flickr. com/1030 http: //www. weatherwizkid

http: //www. houghtonmifflinbooks. com/booksellers/press_release/studentscience/gif/watercycle 1. gif • Clouds are an important part of the water cycle. • The water cycle is the movement of water from the Earth into the sky and then back down to Earth again.

Why are clouds white? Clouds are white because they reflect the light of the sun. Light is made up of colors of the rainbow and when you add them all together you get white.

Why do clouds turn gray • If the clouds get thick enough or high enough all the light above does not make it through, and that makes it look shady and gray. • If there are lots of other clouds around, their shadow can add to the gray or multicolored gray appearance

Weather Bear • Temperature – What is today’s temperature? • Record on chart. • Clouds – What kind of clouds do we have today? • Record on chart. • Predict what tomorrow’s weather. • Dress Weather Bear appropriately.