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ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE CHANGE. HOW DO SCIENCTISTS STUDY IT?. INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES. Explain the difference between weather and climate. Explain the four factors that determine climate. 3. Explain why different parts of the earth have different climates.

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ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE CHANGE

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  1. ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE CHANGE HOW DO SCIENCTISTS STUDY IT?

  2. INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES • Explain the difference between weather and climate. • Explain the four factors that determine climate. 3. Explain why different parts of the earth have different climates. 4. Explain what the ozone layer does for the living things on the earth. 5. Explain how the ozone layer can be damaged. 6. Describe the damaging effect of uv radiation. 7. Explain why the atmosphere is like a greenhouse. 8. Explain why some scientists think the earth’s climate is becoming warmer. 9. Describe the possible results of the earth becoming warmer.

  3. VOCABULARY 1. Climate 2. latitude 3. El Nino 4. La Nina 5. prevailing winds 6. weather 7. Ozone layer 8. chlorofluorocarbons 9. Ozone hole 10. seasons 11. trade winds 12. polar stratospheric clouds 13. solar maximum 14. Montreal Protocol 15. global warming 16. greenhouse gases 17. greenhouse effect 18. Kyoto Protocol

  4. WHAT FACTORS DETERMINE CLIMATE? • Latitude • Atmospheric circulation patterns • Oceanic circulation patterns • Local geography • Solar activity • Volcanic activity Most important is latitude or distance from the equator.

  5. LATITUDE • The distance from the equator North or South measured in degrees. • The North and South Poles are the furthest from the equator at 90 degrees. • Latitude is an indicator as to how much solar energy a location receives.

  6. LOW LATITUDES • More solar energy falls on areas near the equator. • Night and day are about 12 hours long year round. • There are no summer or winters. • There are wet and dry seasons.

  7. HIGH LATITUDES • The sunlight hits the earth at oblique angles and spreads over a larger surface area. • Day and night time periods are much more variable; at 45 degrees North and south latitudes there is as much as 16 hours of daylight in the summer and as little as 8 hours of daylight in the winter. • Near the poles the sun sets for only a few hours during the summer and rises for only a few hours during the winter.

  8. ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION PROPERTIES OF AIR • Colder denser air sinks, As it sinks it compresses and becomes warm. • Warm less dense air rises, As it rises it expands and cools. • Warm air can hold more water vapor than cold air, when warm air cools, water vapor may condense into liquid water to form rain, snow, or fog. SOLAR ENERGY 1. Solar energy heats the ground, warm air, rises, cooler air moves into replace it = wind.

  9. GLOBAL CIRCULATION PATTERNS • 30 degrees north and south latitudes – warm moist air that rose at the equator; some air loses moisture and sinks and moves across the land taking moisture from the land = deserts/ dry conditions • Similar patterns occur at 60 degrees north and south. This drops cold, dry air on the poles. • Trade winds – prevailing winds between 0 and 30 degrees north and south. Blow from NE and SE. • Westerlies – prevailing winds between 30 and 60 degrees north and south. Blow from SW and NW. • Easterlies – prevailing winds between 60 and 90 degrees north and south (poles). Blow S and N.

  10. OCEANIC CIRCULATION PATTERNS Ocean currents have a great effect on climate because water holds large amounts of heat. Ocean currents are caused by wind and the rotation of the earth. • El Nino – a short term periodic change in the location of warm and cold water in the Pacific Ocean. Warm water is pushed eastward, causing increased rainfall in the S. USA and equatorial S. America and drought in Indonesia and Australia. • La Nina – is the opposite of El Nino, which brings cold water to the same locations. • This cycle is called the EL NINO – SOUTHERN OCILLATION cycle

  11. TOPOGRAPHY • Mountains influence temperature – temperatures fall about 11 degrees F. for every 1,000 m increase in elevation. A mountain 5,896m tall will have a temperature of ________, if the temperature at the base of the mountain is 96 degrees F? • Mountain influence the distribution of precipitation – air hitting the eastern side of mountains lose their moisture on that side of the mountain and the other side can have desert-like conditions.

  12. OTHER CLIMATE INFLUENCES • SUN – Increase in UV radiation causes and increase in ozone, which increases the heat on the atmosphere and planet. • VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS – sulfur dioxide gases are pushed into the atmosphere and combines with water vapor and dust to reflect light back to the earth and cause warming

  13. OZONE SHEILD It is the area of the outer layer of the atmosphere that absorbs most of the harmful UV radiation. (Our sunscreen) What can cause it to be damaged? (CFCs) chlorofluorocarbons – coolants for refers and AC and Styrofoam – stable at the earths level, but when they break down, they can get into the atmosphere and destroy the ozone layer.

  14. EFFECTS OF OZONE THINNING HUMANS 1. increase in skin cancer 2. premature aging of the skin 3. increase in cataracts 4. weakened immune response AMPHIBIANS 1. death of eggs 2. genetic mutations 3. reduction of populations MARINE LIFE • Death of phytoplankton 2. food chain disruption 3. Reduction of photosynthesis LAND PLANTS 1. Interference with photosynthesis 2. lower crop yeilds

  15. GLOBAL WARMING • Greenhouse Effect – earth’s atmosphere acts like glass on a greenhouse trapping some of the heat inside and warming the earth’s surface. • Greenhouse gases – gases in the atmosphere that absorb and radiate heat – water vapor, carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, methane, and nitrous oxide – water vapor and carbon dioxide account for most of the heat absorption and radiation.

  16. HOW IS CARBON DIOXIDE MAEASURED? • 1958 measurement from a volcano in Hawaii revealed normal readings of 314ppm. • Measurements since then have shown that the levels rise and fall from photosynthesis. • Additional readings taken in cities show that in these areas the numbers are higher and fluctuate based on traffic and industrial use patterns. • In 2000 the levels had climbed to 368ppm at the same volcano. • This was an indication of world wide levels increasing.

  17. CONSEQUENCES OF A WARMER EARTH The Earth’s climate has changed many times in the history of the earth. How quickly these changes might occur are unknown. POSSIBLE EFFECTS: • Melting polar ice caps and rising sea levels. • Change in global weather patterns. • Human health problems • Altered agricultural patterns • Altered natural animal and plant patterns • Others?

  18. WHAT IS TO BE DONE AND HOW? • Reduce carbon dioxide emissions • Alternative energy sources • ? • ? • ? • ? • ? • ? • ? • ?

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