Climate Long term weather patterns

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ClimateLong term weather patterns

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Factors Affecting Climate

• Altitude
• Latitude
• Currents

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Altitude

• How far above sea level you are
• The farther up, the cooler the climate is.
• With climate change, people are moving farther up
  mountains to avoid mosquitoes.How does this
  impact other organisms?

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Latitude

• How far north or south of the equator you are.
• Equator receives direct sun rays.
• The farther from the equator the greater the
  angle of incidence of light, thus the cooler the
  climate

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Currents

• Wind Currents
• Ocean Currents

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Wind Currents

• Air moving across the warm waters of the North
  Atlantic moderate the Climate of Northern America
  and Western Europe

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Wind Currents

• The Jet Stream moves south of us during the
  winter, pulling cold Artic air from the NW into
  Michigan.
• Fast moving systems from the Canadian Rockies are
  called Clippers.

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Wind Currents

• During the summer, the Jet Stream moves to the
  north of Michigan.
• Air from the Gulf of Mexico travels from the SW
  to bring moisture and warmth to Michigan

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Wind Currents
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Ocean Currents

• The North Atlantic Current is the Conveyer Belt
  that moderates our climate
• Warm less dense water from the Equator travels on
  the surface to the north
• Winds moving across the N. Atlantic pick up the
  heat and transfer it to W. Europe and
  N. America

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Ocean Currents

• Glacial melt at the poles creates cold dense
  water that sinks and travels to the equator.
  This drives the warm less dense water to the
  surface and pushes it northward

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Ocean Currents

• What is the future of the N. Atlantic Current if
  there is no glacial melt?
• What becomes of the Climate in the Northern
  Hemisphere?

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Earths Climatic History

• Earths Climate is like a pendulum. It naturally
  swings between extreme heat and cold over long
  periods of time.

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Earths Climatic History
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Evidences of Climate Change

• Ice Cores
• Indicate varying levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.

• Sediment Cores
• During periods of elevated CO2 in the atmosphere
  sediment cores indicate a warm climate

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Effects of Climate Change on Temperature and
Precipitation
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Effects of Climate Change on Biodiversity

• Genetic Adaptations require long periods of time
  to evolve.
• Rapid climatic changes cause significant changes
  in food webs and mass extinctions

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Cataclysmic Events causing Climate Change

• Supervolcano Eruptions
• Snowball Earth effect causing mass extinctions
  95-99
• Asteroid strikes caused a 80 extinction.

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ages/snowball_earth.gif
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Effects of Global Warming
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Effects of Global Warming
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Climate change can involve abrupt flips. The most
likely cause is a disruption in the N. Atlantic
current. These have been natural occurring events
over Earths history.
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Greenhouse Earth Effect

• CO2 is rising faster than at any period in recent
  history.
• Will man cause the next climate change before its
  time?
• If so what is the effect on Michigan?
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