Climate and Terrestrial Biodiversity

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Climate and Terrestrial Biodiversity

• CHAPTER 6

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Weather A Brief Introduction
OBJ 6.1

• Weather
• ? result of the atmospheric conditions in a
  particular area over short periods of time,
  typically over hours or days
• EX
• temperature, pressure, moisture content,
  precipitation, sunshine, cloud cover, and wind
  direction

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• CLIMATE
• the average pattern of weather for a particular
  region
• LONG TERM

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OBJ 6.2
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Warm Fronts

• A warm front is the boundary between an advancing
  warm air mass and the cooler one it is replacing.
• Because warm air is less dense than cool air, an
  advancing warm front rises up over a mass of cool
  air.
• As the warm front rises, its moisture begins
  condensing into droplets to form layers of clouds
  at different altitudes.

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Cold Front

• A cold front is the leading edge of an advancing
  mass of cold air. Since cold air is more dense
  than warm air it moves in low to the ground.

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Jet Streams

• These are hurricane force winds that are blowing
  around up near the troposphere, these powerful
  winds rising and falling cause great influence on
  weather patterns.

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What are Highs and Lows? Pressure Changes

• Weather is affected by up and down movements of
  masses of air with high and low atmospheric
  pressure.
• Air pressure results from zillions of tiny
  molecules of gases (mostly nitrogen and oxygen)
  in the atmosphere zipping around at incredible
  speeds and hitting and bouncing off anything they
  encounter.

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• An air mass with high pressure, called a high,
  contains cool, dense air that descends toward the
  earths surface and becomes warmer.
• An air mass with low pressure, called a low,
  produces cloudy and sometimes stormy weather.

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Weather Godzillas

• Tornadoes (over land) and tropical storms,
  cyclones, (form over warm ocean waters and
  sometimes pass over land) are weather extremes
  that can cause lots of damage but can sometimes
  have beneficial ecological effects.

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Tornadoes

• Tornadoes or twisters are swirling funnel shaped
  clouds that form over land.
• They can destroy houses and cause other serious
  damage in areas when they touch down on the
  earths surface.
• The United States is the worlds most
  tornado-prone country, followed by Australia.

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Tornadoes

• Tornadoes in the plains of the Midwest usually
  occur when a large, dry cold air front moving
  southward from Canada runs into a large mass of
  humid air moving northward from the Gulf.
• Most tornadoes occur in the spring when fronts of
  cold air from north penetrate deeply into the
  midwestern plains.

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Tropical Storms

• Large and dangerous storms called tropical
  cyclones are spawned by the formation of
  low-pressure cells of air over warm tropical
  seas.
• Hurricanes are tropical cyclones the form in the
  Atlantic Ocean those forming in the Pacific
  Ocean usually are called typhoons.

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• Gale force winds circle the eye of the storm at
  speeds of up to 200 miles per hour.
• Moist surface winds move to the center of the
  storm

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Climate

• Climate is the long term atmospheric conditions
  of a region over several decades.
• The two main factors that determine a regions
  climate are average temperature and average
  precipitation.

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Determining Air Patterns
OBJ 6.3

• There are four main factors that determine global
  air circulation patterns.
• 1. Uneven heating of the earths surface.
• EX Air at the equator has more direct
  sunlight so it is hotter than air below it and
  above it

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• 2. Seasonal changes in temperature and
  precipitation
• Ex. The earth is tilted which resulted in
  some areas being pushed closer to the sun and
  some being pushed farther.

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• 3. Rotation of the earth on its axis
• Ex. This causes prevailing winds which are major
  surface winds that are continuously blowing and
  distributing moisture over the earth

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• 4. properties of air, water, and land also
  affect global air circulation.

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Seasons

• Seasons in the N and S hemispheres are caused by
  the tilt of the earths axis.
• The earths tilt is
• about 23.5 degrees.

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How does the ocean affect climate
OBJ 6.4

• Ocean currents and winds influence climate by
  redistributing heat received from the sun from
  one place to another
• Oceans absorb heat from air patterns

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Winds

• Winds can also affect regional climates and how
  some forms of ocean life are distributed.
• The ocean is in a constant flow where the
  outgoing surface water gets replaced by the
  upwelling cold nutrient rich water from the
  bottom.

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Wind Currents in the U.S.
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El Nino
OBJ 6.5

• Every few years in the Pacific Ocean normal shore
  upwelling's are affected by changes in climate
  patterns called, El Nino Southern Oscillation.

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El Nino

• In an ENSO warmer trade winds prevail and warm
  the ocean waters of the northern and southern
  waters of the American coasts. This stops the
  cold nutrient rich waters from reaching the
  surface and affects marine life populations in
  the seas.
• A very strong ENSO can bring about extream
  climate changes in two-thirds of the world.

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The Natural Greenhouse Effect
OBJ 6.6

• The Naturals Greenhouse Effect is water vapor,
  carbon dioxide, and other gases that influence
  climate by warming the lower troposphere and the
  earths surface.

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The Natural Greenhouse Effect
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The Natural Greenhouse Effect

• Small amounts of certain gases play a key role in
  determining the earths average temperature and
  thus its climates.
• These gases include water vapor (H20), Carbon
  Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), and Nitrous Oxide
  (N20)

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The Natural Greenhouse Effect
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The Natural Greenhouse Effect

• Together these gases known as greenhouse gases,
  allow mostly visible light and some infrared
  radiation and ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the
  sun to pass through the trosphere.

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The Natural Greenhouse Effect

• The earths surface absorbs much of this solar
  energy.
• This transforms it to longer-wavelength infrared,
  which rises into the troposphere.

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The Natural Greenhouse Effect

• Some of this infrared radiation escapes into
  space and some is absorbed by molecules of
  greenhouse gases and emitted into the troposphere
  in all directions as even longer wavelength
  infrared radiation

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The Natural Greenhouse Effect

• Some of this released energy is radiation into
  space and some warms the troposphere and the
  earths surface.
• This natural warming effect of the troposphere is
  called the greenhouse effect.

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Creating Deserts and Warming Cities

• Mountain and cities affect local and regional
  climates.

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Creating Deserts and Warming Cities

• When moist air blowing inland from an ocean
  reaches a mountain range, it cools as it is
  forced to rise and expand.
• This causes the air to los most of its moisture
  as rain and snow on the windward slopes.

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Creating Deserts and Warming Cities

• As the drier air mass flows down the leeward
  slopes, it draws moisture out of the plants and
  soil over which it passes.
• The lower precipitation and the resulting
  semiarid or arid conditions on the leeward side
  of the high mountains are called rain shadow
  effect.

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Creating Deserts and Warming Cities

• Cities also create distinct microclimates.
• Bricks, concrete, asphalt, and other building
  materials absorb and hold heat, and buildings
  block wind flow.

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Creating Deserts and Warming Cities

• Motor vehicles and the climate control systems of
  buildings release large quantities of heat and
  pollutants.
• As a result, cities tend to have more haze and
  smog, higher temperature, and lower wind speeds
  than the surrounding countryside.

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Tropical Temperatures

• The most important factors for producing the
  tropical and temperate climates is the average
  annual precipitation, temperature and soil type.

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Navigation

• Latitude the distance from the equator
• Altitude the elevation above sea level

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Deserts

• A desert is an area where evaporation exceeds
  precipitation.
• Deserts have little precipitation and little
  vegetation and are found in tropical,
  temperature, and polar regions.

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• Deserts cover about 30 of the earths surface.
• Deserts are found mostly in tropical and
  subtropical regions
• Desert soils have little vegetation so at night
  the surface rapidly cools

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3 types of deserts

• Tropical deserts hot and dry most of the year,
  with few plants and hard surfaces

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• Temperate deserts has high daytime temps in the
  summer and low daytime temps in the winter.
  Vegetation consists of cacti and shrubs

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• Cold deserts winters cold and summers are warm
  with low precipitation.

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• In the semiarid zones between deserts and
  grasslands, we find semidesert.
• This biome is dominated by thorn trees and shrubs
  adapted to long dry spells followed by brief,
  sometimes heavy rains.

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Stay Cool and Get Water Any Way You Can!

• Desert plants and animals have a number of
  strategies for staying cool and getting enough
  water to survive in hot and dry climates. Beat
  the heat or DIE!!!

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Desert Adaptations

• Cactuses dont have leaves which can loose water,
  also they open their pores at night when its
  cooler to intake oxygen, they store water in
  inside them for very dry spells, and finally they
  have deep roots to tap into ground water
  supplies.

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Major Types of GrasslandsHot, Cold, and Mild

• Grasslands have enough precipitation to support
  grasses but not enough to support large stands of
  trees.
• Grasslands are found in tropical, temperate and
  polar regions.

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Prairies or Grasslands

• Prairies or grasslands are mostly found in the
  interiors on continents. They are formed because
  of a combination of drought, precipitation, fire
  and animals grazing that keep large shrubs and
  trees from growing.

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• Grasslands in Canada

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Savanna

• Are grasslands that experience very warm
  temperatures year round. Also they have two dry
  spells and then rain the rest of the year.
• They are mainly inhabited by huge herds of
  hoofed, and grazing animals.

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Polar Grasslands

• Polar Grasslands are occur south of the polar ice
  caps.
• Treeless plains covered in ice and snow most of
  the year, except for a brief summer period.
• Has a layer of permafrost just below the soil
• Inhabited by small herbivores, and small
  predators.

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Chaparral

• Has a very mild climate with a slightly longer
  winter rainy season.
• Located along the oceans in southern California
  and the Mediterranean.
• Subject to many fires during the fall followed by
  flooding and mudslides.
• Long, hot, dry summers make fires happen very
  often.

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Flooding
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Chaparral Plant Life

• Consists mostly of dense growths of low growing
  evergreen shrubs
• Few small trees with leaves that reduce
  evaporation
• During summer become dry and flammable.

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Tropical Rain Forests

• Heavy rainfall most days out of the year.
• Found near the equator. High humidity.
• Very diverse forms of life.
• Broadleaf evergreen plants are the main
  vegetation.
• Soil has very little plant nutrients.
• Very little ground plant life.

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Temperate Deciduous

• Grow in places with moderate temperatures.
• Long warm summers, cold winters, and abundant
  precipitation.
• Oak, Hickory, Maple, Popular, and Beech trees
  dominate the plant life. Diverse ground plant
  life.
• Nutrient rich soil.

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Temperate DeciduousAnimal Life

• Most popular animal species is the White-Tail
  Deer, along with squirrels, rabbits, opossums,
  raccoons, and mice.
• Used to be home to bears, wolves, foxes,
  wildcats, and mountain lions. Most of the
  predators have been killed off, or displaced.

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Evergreen Coniferous Forests

• Found just south of the arctic tundra in the
  northern regions of North America, Asia, and
  Europe.
• Long, dry, and extremely cold winters. Where
  sunlight is available only 6-8 hours a day.
• Summers are short with mild temperatures. Where
  the sun shines 19 hours a day.

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Evergreen Coniferous ForestPlant life

• Mostly populated by a few species of coniferous
  evergreen trees.
• Spruce, fir, cedar, hemlock, and pine trees.
• Most keep needles all year long, and are cone
  bearing.

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Evergreen Coniferous ForestsAnimal Life

• Many small rabbits and mice.
• Contain animal species such as moose, wolves,
  owls, and small birds

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Temperate Rain Forests

• Coastal region support these forests.
• Huge cone bearing trees such as redwoods and
  Douglas firs
• Environment must be cool and moist to support
  temperate rain forests.
• Cool summers and winters
• Trees depend of frequent rains

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Mountain Biomes

• High elevated forests.
• Often peaks are snow covered.
• Gradually release water to lower level streams
  and rivers.
• Prone to erosion, landslides, and avalanches
• Make up one fourth on the worlds land surface.

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Natural Capital Degradation

• Clearing and degradation of tropical forests for
  agriculture, livestock, gazing, and timber
  harvesting.
• Clearing of deciduous forests of Europe, Asia and
  North America, for timber, agriculture, and urban
  development.
• Converting diverse forest into non diverse tree
  plantations.

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Natural Capital Degradation (Mountains)

• Landless poor migrating uphill to survive.
• Timber extraction
• Mineral resource extraction
• Hydro-electric dams and reservoirs
• Increasing tourism (such as hiking and skiing)
• Air pollution
• Soil damage from off road vehicles

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