Lecture 2: What is Weather?1. According to Environment Canada, what was the top weather story of 2009?2. What climate change processes might you expect to witness during your lifetime? Which ones

do you think take too long for you to experience?

1. Lack of a summer... “summer of discontent”2. Climate change processes I am guessing we can witness droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes etc.

And as for climate changes that take long to experience would be like long term changes such as global warming and ice age.

both answers from ELM

Lecture 3: Earth’s Atmosphere1. The thermosphere has extremely high temperature, but a person exposed to it would rapidly

freeze. Explain this apparent contradiction. 2. Does the equivalent of Northern Lights occur in the southern hemisphere?

1. The difference between temperature and heat. While it has a high temperature, the air is so thin that it cannot transfer that heat into a body. Not enough molecules to bump into, even if each is very high energy (the temperature). So your body would radiate heat faster than the surrounding air could replace it, and you freeze.

2. Auroras can be spotted throughout the world and on other planets but it is most visible closer to the poles due to the longer periods of darkness and the magnetic field.

both answers from ELM

Lecture 4: Atmospheric Pressure and Density1. Pressurized cans of shaving cream advise users not to expose the product to excessive heat?

What might happen if the advice is not followed? Will this potential problem remain throughout life of the product?

2. At standard pressure of 1013.2 mb is also known as one atmosphere (1ATM). Look at next figure and determine at approximately what levels you would record a pressure of 0.5 ATM and 0.1 ATM.

1. Pressurized cans: it will exposed, internal pressure increasing due to heat; a year or two or five down the road is this still going to be a problem? If there are no leaks it will remain the same. However if there is a leak over time there is a reduction in gas content and thus a higher applied pressure required for it to explode

2. Standard pressure is 1013.2 mb = 1 ATM. What is the pressure of 0.5 ATM in mb = 506.5 mb. What is the pressure of 0.1 ATM in mb = 101 mb

Lecture 5: Global Energy Balance1. Would you expect the northern and southern hemispheres to have same average albedo? What

factors might cause the two hemispheres to reflect different percentages of insolation back to space?

2. Which would have the greatest effect on the earth’s greenhouse effect: removing all of the CO2 from the atmosphere or removing all of the water vapour? Explain why you chose your answer.

1. More landmass in northern hemisphere than southern hemisphere. So northern hemisphere has more opportunity for snow in the winter and thus more albedo. Though there is more water in southern hemisphere there is not a great availability of land for snow to be on.

2. Removing CO2 or H2O↑. More water vapour in the atmosphere than CO2 but CO2 has a higher greenhouse gas potential. Methane is 250 times that of CO2.

Lecture 6: Variations in Temperature1. Suppose that the earth’s axis were tilted at 40° to the plane of the ecliptic, instead of 23.5°. How

would the seasons change in Hamilton? What would be the global effect of the change?2. An orchard farmer hears a weather forecast for overnight low temperatures to hover just above

freezing point of 0°C, but with wind chill temperatures expected to drop significantly lower. Will the wind chill increase the possibility of frost damage? Why or why not?

1. More tilt would mean more dramatic seasons in Hamilton. The radiation balance between seasonal changes would be even greater

2. Yes the farmer should be concerned because the wind chill factor will damage crops.

Lecture 7: Atmospheric Moisture1. How can frozen clothes “dry” outside in subfreezing weather? What is taking place?2. A crowded classroom is filled with students. In what way does the presence of the students

affect the dew point and relative humidity in the room?

1. Freezing clothes will still dry in subfreezing weather due to sublimation because the water is going from solid to gas. FROM ELM: The process that is taking place here is called sublimation, where the dry ice turns from a solid into a gas state. Water does the same but at a much slower rate… hence why clothes dry faster in warm weather compared to freezing weather.

2. A classroom full of students will create a higher dew point FROM ELM: because there is more humidity coming from heat released from people's body and also from their breath. From the table in the lecture notes, we assume that temperature increases, SH stays the same therefore relative humidity will fall.

Lecture 8: Adiabatic Process1. What time of year will unstable conditions be most common over the continental US and

Canada?2. Is the stability of the air more likely to change rapidly near the surface or aloft? At what time of

day are major changes in the ELR most likely?

1. ELR – what are the two parameters you will be trying to measure with the air parcel? MALR & DALR. When looking at unstable conditions how do they come into play.

a. Higher temperatures required to create unstable conditions > ELR is highb. Therefore summer is the time of year that unstable conditions are most commonc. Thunderstorms are a result

2. Stability is more likely to change rapidly near the surface due to daytime heating.

Lecture 9: Clouds1. Why are advection fogs rare over tropical water?2. In many regions, the orographic effect causes precipitation to increase with elevation. Can you

think of any reason why this might not be true all the way up to the top of Mt Everest?

1. Advection fogs are rare over tropical water because the waters are warm and thus warm air coming along it won’t cause fog

2. Orographic effect is not present at the top of Mt Everest due to the freezing temperatures and the low moisture content at those altitudes.

Lecture 10: Precipitation1. How might the warming of the atmosphere change how rainfall forms in the middle latitudes?2. Why is a warm, tropical cumulus cloud more likely to produce precipitation than a cold, stratus

cloud?

1. Higher temperatures therefore higher moisture content in atmosphere as a result more moisture available for precipitation and high rainfall.

2. The cumulus cloud is rising higher and thus greater instability, and higher moisture content.

Lecture 11: Snow and Ice1. In general, rivers freeze over later and clear earlier than lakes in the same area. What is the

cause of this?2. Both the Arctic and the Canadian Prairies have a relatively low snow cover. Is the cause for this

the same in both regions?

1. There’s more movement in the flow of water in the river > a mechanical impediment to forming ice and run off in the spring increases flow to allow break up of ice

2. Continuous snow in the arctic; where as in the prairies have a rain shadow due to the Orographic effect of the Rockies. Both areas however have low vegetation cover. Arctic has a lower temperature and thus moisture content and precipitation are low but snow lasts longer.

Lecture 12: Hydrologic Cycle1. During a storm event, how does interflow differ from overland flow?2. What is the difference between a 100-year flood and a 500-year flood?

1. Interflow is the flow of water just below the surface from percolation and the overland is the rain travelling on the surface. Interflow moves slower than overland. When at paved areas no interflow.

2. A probability, based on historical records of discharge > the likelihood that a river will peak.

Lecture 13: Water Balance1. What effect does a large ST have on a location as compared with another location that has the

same P and PE totals but a lower ST?2. How do impervious surfaces such as parking lots impact the water balance terms?

1. There will be different vegetation and more loss of water at the lower ST location

2. They prevent percolation and there is less potential for recharge of soil storage so the importance of ST will be reduced.

Lecture 14: Winds and Pressure1. Pilots often use the expression “high to low, look out below”. In terms of upper-level

temperature and pressure, explain what this can mean.2. The pilot of a small plane wants to fly at constant height about the ground. Can the pilot fly at a

constant pressure level (e.g. 500mb) to achieve this? Why or why not?

1. With the change in temp from high to low pressure ....???2. It depends on the travel distance. Pressure altitude changes over distance particularly as latitude

increases.

Lecture 15: Major Wind Systems1. Why are surface winds that blow over the ocean closer to being geostrophic than those that

blow over land?2. Why is that, on the equator, winds may blow either counterclockwise or clockwise with respect

to an area of low pressure?

1. Geostrophic is perpendicular to isobar > PGF = CF and because you don’t have FF over the oceans 2. Because CF is negligible FROM ELM: The wind direction of a low pressure area will be

anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere which is caused by the coriolis effect. The equator on the other hand, the coriolis force is absent (meaning its zero). And since there is no deflecting force, the wind can blow either clockwise or counter clockwise around an area of low pressure, depending upon how the flow initially responds to the pressure gradient force.

Lecture 16: Atmospheric Circulation1. Which of the belts depicted in the three-cell model is likely to exhibit the greatest temperature

gradients2. What effect would continents have on the circulation of air in the one-cell model?

1. ?2. It creates a differential leading between land and ocean, creates a frictional surface and creates

obstacles (like mountains)

Lecture 17: Oceanic Circulation1. Why do ocean water surface temp patterns change slowly when compared to atmospheric

patterns?2. CF deflects moving water to the right in the NH and the left in SH. Why does upwelling tend to

occur along the western margins

1. Due to the differences in heat capacity between water and air2. LUC: “Look at the wind patterns of subtropical high pressure belts…” FROM ELM: Refer to figure

8.2 as you read the description of surface currents in the world's major oceans. In the Northern Hemisphere the water under the westerlies moves 45° to the right of the westerlies, away from an ocean's western shore or boundary, and along the 40°-50°N latitudes until it reaches its eastern shore or boundary. The water under the trade winds moves 45° to the right of the trades,

away from an ocean's eastern boundary, and along the 10°-20° latitudes until it reaches its western boundary. When Northern Hemisphere water moving with the trade winds accumulates at the land boundary on the west side of an ocean, the water flows north to the latitude of the westerlies, and then eastward across the ocean. Water accumulating at the land boundary on the east side of a northern ocean flows south toward the region from which the water moves westward under the trade winds. In Southern Hemisphere oceans the east-west currents are deflected 45° to the left of the trade winds and the westerlies. Water accumulating on the eastern side of a Southern Hemisphere ocean moves north, and water on the western side of a southern ocean moves south. In each hemisphere this produces continuous flow and a series of interconnecting surface currents moving in a circular path centered on 30° latitude. The rotation is clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. These circular-motion current systems are known as gyres. In the more southern latitudes there is no land between the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans; here the surface currents, driven by the westerlies, continue around the earth in a circumpolar flow around Antarctica. (Chapter 8.1 from http://210.34.8.4/course/hykxdl/textbook/chap8.html)

Lecture 18: Air Masses and Fronts1. Continental air polar air masses can migrate into Florida during the winter but not into northern

India. Why not?2. Warm fronts are extremely rare over southern California. Why?

1. Source regions: northern India is bounded by the Himalayas and is inland.2. You need a warm and a cold air mass to produce a warm front. Cold air masses rarely occur

around southern California.

Lecture 19: Midlatitude Storms1. Why can’t systems similar to midlatitude cyclones develop over the tropics?2. Are Rossby waves likely to have greater representation in the SH or NH, why?

1. There is minimal CF at the equator. Also occlusion fronts are needed (need warm and cold front and there aren’t any cold fronts over the equator)

2. They have a greater representation in the NH because it is covered by more land and thus mountains and also a larger PGF

Lecture 20: Thunderstorms and Tornadoes1. Why is the incidence of thunderstorms much lower near the Pacific coast than at the Atlantic

Coast.?

1. Less convection by pacific coast. Mid latitude process requires a moisture difference. Less frequency of cold fronts at the pacific coast > less occluded fronts

Lecture 21: Hurricanes 1. If two hurricanes pass just to the west of Cuba over a 2-week period, what reasons might one

have for expecting the second one to be weaker than the first one?

1. Less latent heat (in the air) to drive the second hurricane. Also the first hurricane cools the surface water as it goes through so less latent heat (in the water).

Lecture 22: Global Climate1. Why is there a contrast in climate types on either side of the Rocky Mountains, but not on either

side of the Appalachian Mountains?

1. The Appalachian Mountains don’t have significant height to cause a contrast in climate. (Minimal Orographic effect)

Lecture 23: Climates of the World

1. Caribou migrate of 1000km between their summering and wintering ranges. Given that the picture below was taken in November, in which direction are they headed? What does the distance they travel tell you about the season shifts over the tundra?

1. They are most likely heading south. The distance they travel tells us that there are huge seasonal shifts over the tundra.