Conditions for Life: CLIMATE

Conditions for Life: CLIMATE

By: Anna Mae A. CababarosMS EST-1

By: Anna Mae A. CababarosMS EST-1

WEATHER

VS. CLI

MATE

Weather- is the combination of temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind, cloudiness, and other atmospheric conditions at a specific time.

Climate- is the characteristic condition of the atmosphere near the earth's surface at a certain place on earth. It is the long-term weather of that area (at least 30 years).

Factors affecting Climate Variation within regions:

Factors affecting Climate Variation within regions:

SOLAR RADIATION LATITUDE

ELEVATION/ ALTITUDE WIND

AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION WATER CURRENTS

1. Earth intercepts Solar Radiation.• The intercepted energy causes thermal

patterns.• Coupled with Earth’s rotation and movement

around the sun, it generates prevailing winds and ocean currents.

• These movements of air and water in turn influences the distribution of rainfall.

Latitude

- is the distance a place lies north or south of the equator and is measured by an imaginary line called lines of latitude.

North Frigid Zone

Temperate Zone

Temperate Zone

South Frigid Zone

Torrid Zone

2. Intercepted solar radiation varies over Earth’s

surface.• The amount of solar energy varies markedly

with Latitude.Variation Factors: i. At higher latitudes, radiation hits the

surface at a greater angle, so it spreads over a larger area.

ii. Radiation that intercepts the atmosphere at an angle must travel through a deeper layer of air.

3. Air Temperature decreases with altitude.

Adiabatic Cooling Air molecules under

pressure collide and heat up.

As warm air rises, the pressure on it decreases and the air expands.

There are fewer collisions so the air becomes cool.

• As elevation increases, the air gets cooler because the energy is drawn from the surroundings.

• Less dense air traps less heat resulting in net cooling (Adiabatic Cooling).

• The rate of temperature change with elevation is called adiabatic lapse rate.

4. Air masses circulate globally.

• At the Equator, temperatures are relatively high. Land and water masses heat up and as a result these warm the air over them.

• Air heated at the equatorial region rises to the top of the atmosphere.

• More air rising beneath it forces the air mass to spread north and south toward the poles.

Coriolis Effect

• The rotation of the Earth causes all moving objects in the Northern Hemisphere, including air mass, to deflect to the right and those in the Southern Hemisphere to move to the left.

• This effect is absent at the equator.• Coriolis Force- prevents a direct simple flow

from the equator to the poles.

Series of Prevailing Winds:

Polar Regions- Polar easterliesNear the Equator- Easterly Trade winds

Middle Latitude- Westerlies

The flow is divided into six cells, three in each regions:

a)Equatorial Low (Doldrums)- the air that flows up from the equator forms an equatorial zone of low pressure, a region of calm.b) Subtropical High (Horse latitudes)- the region of light winds.c) Westerlies- the north-ward flowing air current turns right.d) Northeast trade winds-the southward air also deflected to the right.e) Polar easterlies- the air aloft gradually moves , continues to cool and descends at the polar region. There it cools further at the surface, and flows southward.

5. Solar energy, wind, and Earth’s rotation creates Ocean currents.

Current- the systematic patters of water movement.

Gyres- two great circular water motion.Northern Hemisphere- the ocean current

moves clockwise.Southern Hemisphere- the ocean current

move counterclockwise.

• Trade winds push warm surface waters westward at the equator.

• As the waters encounter the continents, they split into north- and south-flowing currents along the eastern coast, forming north and south gyres.

6. Temperature influences the amount of moisture can hold.

Function (Temperature)- the amount of water that can be held in a given volume of air.

Saturation vapor pressure- The maximum amount of water vapor that can be held in a volume of air at a given temperature.

Relative Humidity- is the amount of water in the air expressed as a percentage of the saturation vapor pressure.

Dew point- The temperature at which saturation vapor is achieved.

7. Precipitation has a global pattern.

High Precipitation – Tropical Regions (eastern Asia, Africa, South America as well as southeastern North America)

• As westerly winds move across the tropical oceans, they gather moisture.

• The warm air cools as it rises.• When the dew point is reached, clouds form

and precipitation falls as rain.

• As the winds move northward and southward, they cool.

• In the horse latitudes (subtropical high), where the cool air descends , two belts of dry climate encircle the globe.

• The descending air warms and can therefore hold more moisture.

• The dry air draws water from the surface, causing arid conditions.

According to the Köppen classification, the earth can be divided into several major climatic zones and bands:

Tropical climate Subtropical

climate Arid climate Equatorial climate Semiarid climate Mediterranean

climate

Tropical climate Subtropical

climate Arid climate Equatorial climate Semiarid climate Mediterranean

climate

Temperate climateOceanic climateContinental climateSubarctic climatePolar climateClimate of

Antarctica

Temperate climateOceanic climateContinental climateSubarctic climatePolar climateClimate of

Antarctica

Tropical ClimateTropical Climate

SubtropicalClimateSubtropicalClimate

Arid ClimateArid Climate

Equitorial ClimateEquitorial Climate

Semiarid ClimateSemiarid Climate

Mediterranian ClimateMediterranian Climate

Temperate ClimateTemperate Climate

Oceanic ClimateOceanic Climate

Continental ClimateContinental Climate

Subarctic ClimateSubarctic Climate

Polar ClimatePolar Climate

Climate of AntarcticaClimate of Antarctica

8. Most organisms live in microclimates.

Environmental conditions will be quiet different underground or on the surface, beneath vegetation or on exposed soil, on mountain slopes or on a ridge top.

Microclimate- the whole range of localized climates.

-small scale patterns of climate resulting from the influence of topography, urban forms, water bodies, vegetation, etc.

• As each species responds to its changing environment, its interactions with the physical

world and the organisms around it change too.

• These impacts can include expansion of species into new areas, intermingling of formerly non-overlapping species, and even species extinctions.

• Climate change is happening on a global scale, but the ecological impacts are often local and vary from place to place.

A relatively rapid increase in temperature has been documented during the past century, both at Earth’s surface and in the oceans.

If emission rates for greenhouse gases (which trap heat inside Earth’s atmosphere) continue on their current track, models indicate that the globe will be 4.3 to 11.5°F warmer by 2100 than it was in 1990.

1. Shift’s in Species’ Ranges - the locations in which they can survive and

reproduce.

2. Shifts in Phenology- the timing of biological activities that take place seasonally.

THE END…