David L.

Gonzalez Ch 4 Notes Global Climates and Biomes Weather- changes on time scales from seconds to days Climate- avg. weather in a given region of a longer time eriod !arth"s atmos here- five layers of gases# hel by gravity and th$s less dense f$rther from the earth

%ro os here- layer closest to earth and the densest. &'(m high# most nitrogen# o)ygen and water va or of the atmos here# location of all weather and lots of circ$lation *tratos here- layer second closest to earth. &'-+,(m above the earth. -zone .-/0 forms a layer in this s here and res onsible for absorbing 12B# 12C# rays deadly to many organisms 3esos here- /rd highest layer from earth %hermos here- 4th highest layer from earth and rotects against $ltra violet radiation and ) rays# res onsible for olar lights !)os here-o$termost layer of atmos here

1neven Warming of the earth 4ngle of s$n rays hitting earth# e5$ator hit by a er endic$lar angle and the oles hit by slanted angles 2ariation of amo$nt of s$rface area where s$n rays hit# tro ics get more solar energy er s5$are meter than mid latit$de and olar regions 4lbedo- ercent of s$nlight reflected from a s$rface# the higher an albedo the more s$nlight gets reflected

6ro erties of air- determine how it circ$lates in the atmos here Density- dense air sin(s# warm air has a lower density Water va or ca acity- ma) amo$nt of water va or that can be in the air at a given time is the sat$ration oint 4diabatic heating7cooling-adiabatic heating when air sin(s the ress$re on it increases# forces the air to decrease in vol$me# and raises the tem erat$re of the air. 4diabatic cooling when air rises the ress$re on it decreases# the air e) ands in vol$me# and lowers the tem erat$re of the air Latent heat release- rod$ction of heat when water va or condenses from gas to li5$id 8adley cells- convection c$rrents that cycle between e5$ator and /, N and * &. 9ntertro ical convergence zone .9%C:0 s$n heats moist tro ical air and ma(es it rise ;. <ising air goes thro$gh adiabatic cooling# ca$ses water va or to condense into rain and fall bac( to earth /. Condensation of water va or rod$ces latent heat release# ma(es air e) and and rise farther in atmos here. 4. Warm rising air dis laces cooler drier air above it to north and so$th

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Cool dry air sin(s and goes thro$gh adiabatic heating# reaches earth s$rface as warm and dry# then flows bac( to e5$ator to re eat.

Coriolis !ffect- deflection of moving ob=ects when viewed in a rotating reference frame * eed of earths rotation varies with latit$de# latit$de nearer to oles means it"s smaller %ilt of the earth"s a)is ca$ses seasons by having different arts of the globe receive o osite ro ortions of s$nlight thro$gho$t the year 3arch e5$ino)-s$n directly overhead at the e5$ator# &;hrs of daylight and dar(ness all over the world# s ring begins in N. hemis here# fall begins in *. hemis here >. ?$ne solstice- northern hemis here ma)imally titled toward s$n with longest day of year# s$mmer starts in N hemis here winter starts in * hemis here @. *e tember e5$ino)- s$n is directly overhead at the e5$ator and all regions have &; hrs of daylight and dar(ness all over the world# fall starts in N hemis here s ring starts in * hemis here A. December solstice- N hemis here is ma)imally tilted away from s$n and shortest day of year# winter starts in N hemis here s$mmer starts in * hemis here
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Gyres- large scale atterns of water circ$lation %hermohaline Circ$lation &,. Warm water flows from g$lf of 3e)ico to north 4tlantic# some freezes and eva orates &&. <emaining water# now saltier and denser sin(s to ocean bottom &;. Cold water travels along ocean floor connecting worlds oceans &/. Cold dee water rises to s$rface and circ$lates to north 4tlantic

Biome- artic$lar combination of average ann$al tem erat$re and ann$al reci itation and contain distinctive lant growth ada ted to that environment La(es and 6onds Littoral zone- shallow area of soil and water near the shore where algae and emergent lants li(e cattails grow Limnetic zone-o en water# rooted lants cant s$rvive# floating algae li(e hyto lan(ton are the only hotosynthetic organisms 6rof$ndal zone- very dee la(es# below limnetic zone# no s$nlight# rod$cers cant s$rvive# bacteria and decom osers Benthic zone- m$ddy bottom of a la(e