climatology
the study of climate and its variability, analyzes long-term weather patterns over time and space and the controls that produce Earth's diverse climatic conditions
climatic regions
areas of similar weather statistics and observed patterns that are grouped into regions,the core of climate classification
ecosystems
the natural, self regulating communities formed by plants and animals in their nonliving environment
biomes
forest, grassland, savanna, tundra, and desert
constant state of adaptation and response, never stable
ecosystems should be thought of as in a
insolation, temperature, pressure, air masses, and precipitation
principal elements of climate
insolation
the energy input for the climate system, but it varies widely over Earth's surface by latitude
principle controls of temperature
latitude, altitude, land-water heating differences, and cloud cover
POTET
potential evapotranspiration, a measure of natural moisture demand
subtropical high pressure cells
most of Earth's desert regions, areas of permanent water deficit, with bordering lands grading to grasslandds and to forests as precipitation increases
equatorial low pressure and ITCZ (intertropical convergence zone)
most consistently we climates on Earth straddle the equator in the Amazon region of South America, the Congo region of Africa, and Indonesia and Southeast Asia
temperature and precipitation
key to climate classification
classification
the process of grouping data or phenomena in related categories
genetic classification
based on causative factors (ex: the interaction of air masses), explain climates in terms of net radiation, thermal regimes, or air mass dominance over a region
empirical classification
determined by statistical data of observed effects (ex: temperature and precipitation data)
climograph
graph that shows monthly temperature and precipitation, location coordinates, average annual temperature, total annual precipitation, elevation, the local population, annual temperature range, annual hour of sunshine, and a location map
tropical climates
-occupy 36% of Earth's surface
-Earth's most extensive climate category
-straddles equator from 20 degrees N to 20 degrees S, between Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
-climate is truly winterless
-consistent daylength and almost perpendicular sun angle thr
tropical rain forest
-consistently moist and warm
-convectional thunderstorms peak each day from mid-afternoon to late evening inland
-ITCZ affects region year round
-high rainfall produces Earth's equatorial and tropical rain forests,light barely reaches forest floor because
tropical monsoon
-1 or more dry season months, ITCZ brings rainfall from 6 to 12 months of the year
-dry season occurs when convergence zone is not overhead
-lie along coastal areas within the tropical rain forest climatic realm and experience seasonal variation of wind a
tropical savanna
-exist poleward of tropical rain forest climates
-ITCZ affects region for 6 months or less of the year
-summers are wetter than winters because convectional rains accompany shifting ITCZ when its overhead
-POTET (natural moisture demand) exceeds PRECIP (n
mesothermal climates
-meaning "middle temperature"
-occupies the 2nd largest percentage of Earth's land and sea
-55% of world's population reside in these climates
-great weather variability (mild winters)
Causal: shifting air masses of maritime and continental origin, migrat
humid suptropical
-humid subtropical hot-summer climates either moist all year or have a pronounced winter-dry period, as occurs in eastern and southern Asia
-maritime tropical air masses generated over warm waters off eastern coasts influence humid subtropical hot-summer
marine west coast
-mild winters, cool summers, dominate Europe and other middle to high-latitude west coasts
-maritime polar air masses - cool, moist, unstable - dominate marine west coast climates, making weather unpredictable
-coastal fog, 30 to 60 days, is a part of the
mediterranean dry-summer
-70% of annual precipitation occurs in the winter months
-brings summer water-balance deficits, but is recharged in winter usually till late spring, chaparral (hard-leafed, drought-resistant vegetation) grows here
-across the planet in summer months, shif
microthermal climates
-have long cold winters with summer warmth (microthermal means "cold")
-21% of land surface is affected by these climates, 7% of total Earth surface
-great temperature ranges related to continentality and air mass conflicts
-precipitation varies between m
humid continental hot-summer
-differentiated by annual precipitation distribution
-in the summer, maritime tropical air masses influence both humid continental moist-all-year and winter-dry.
-in North America, frequent weather activity is possible between conflicting air masses (mari
humid continental mild-summer
-agriculture is important including dairy cattle, poultry, flax, sunflowers, sugar beets, wheat, and potatoes
-frost-free periods range from fewer than 90 days in the north to as many as 225 days in the south
-precipitation is less than hot-summer; but sn
subarctic
-includes stretches of Alaska, Canada, northern Scandinavia and Siberian Russia
-cooler summers and very cold winters
-boreal forests of canada and taiga of russia are areas that recieve 25 cm or more of precipitation and are covered by "snow" forests of
polar and highland climates
-have no true summer
-daylength in summer is continuous with a low sun altitude, average monthly temperatures never rise above 10 C (50F)
-temperature conditions are intolerable to tree growth
-in winter, there is continuous night as sun drops below 66.5
tundra
-strictly in Northern Hemisphere, except for elevated mountains in southern hemisphere and antarctic peninsula
-land is under continuous snow cover for 8-10 months, with the warmest month never warming above 10 C
-the summit of Mount Washington in New Ham
ice-cap and ice-sheet
-includes most of Greenland, Antarctica, and the North Pole
-dominated by dry, frigid air masses, with vast expanses that never warm above freezing
-North Pole -sea covered by ice, Antarctica -continental landmass covered by Earth's greatest ice sheet
-An
polar marine
-more moderate than other polar climates with no month
below -7 C but not as warm as tundra climate
-climate exists along Bering Sea, south tip of Greenland, northern Iceland, Norway, and in the southern hemisphere over oceans between 50 degrees S and 60
Arid and Semiarid Climates
-permanent moisture deficits
-35% of Earth's land, most extensive climate over land
-sparse vegetation leaves landscape exposed
causal elements: dry, subsiding air in subtropical high-pressure systems dominates, midlatitude deserts and steppes form in the
desert characteristics
-covers regions between 15 and 30 degrees N and S latitudes
-subtropical high-pressure cells predominate, with subsiding, stable air and low relative humidity
-cloudless skies, subtropical deserts extend to western continental margins, where cool, stabili
tropical, subtropical hot desert
-annual average temperatures above 18 C
-generally reside on western sides of continents, including Egypt, Somalia, and Saudi Arabia
-rainfall is from local summer convectional showers
-some regions receive almost no rainfall whereas others may receive up
midlatitude cold desert
-cover very small area
-includes countries along southern border of Russia, the Gobi Desert, and Mongolia in Asia, some southwest high elevated areas of US, and Patagonia in Argentina
-lower temperatures and lower moisture-demand means rainfall must be lo
tropical, subtropical hot steppe
-tropical generally exist around the periphery of hot deserts, where subtropical high-pressure cells create a distinct summer-dry and winter-wet pattern.
-subtropical areas annual precipitation is usually below 60 cm
-a southern hemisphere example is Walg
midlatitude cold steppe
-occur poleward of 30 degrees latitude and the midlatitude cold desert climates.
-not generally found in the southern hemisphere
-rainfall is widely variable and undependable, ranging from 20 to 40 cm
-not all rainfall is convectional; cyclonic storm trac
greenhouse effect
belief that human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, oil) and secondarily the clearing of land, have increased the concentration of carbon dioxide, methane, and other heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere
paleoclimatology
science that studies past climates
radiatively active gases
atmospheric gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and water vapor, which absorb and radiate longwave energy.
-gases are transparent to light but opaque to the longer wavelengths radiated by Earth.
-they transmit light
carbon dioxide and water vapor
principle radiatively active gases causing Earth's natural greenhouse effect
Methane
-generated by organic processes such as digestion and rotting in the absence of oxygen.
-thought responsible for 19% of total atmospheric warming
50% come from bacterial action in the intestinal tracts of livestock and from organic activity in flooded ric
nitrous oxide and CFC's
Nitrous oxide - 3rd most important greenhouse gas, fertilizer use increases the process in the soil that emits nitrous oxide
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - absorb long wave energy missed by carbon dioxide and water vapor. They enhance the greenhouse effect
general circulation model (GCM)
a complex computer climate model developed by scientists using mathematical models originally established for forecasting weather
-atleast a dozen operating around the world
-submodel programs for the atmosphere, ocean, land surface, cryosphere, and biosp
global impacts from greenhouse effect
-tropospheric and stratospheric warming
-extreme changes in temperature. Hot days and nights are more frequent than cold days and nights.
-average global ocean temperature increased, ocean absorbed more than 80% of climate system heating. This warming cau
More precipitation in Tropical
-more evaporation from ocean
-air from high to low to continents
-air masses move up = more rain