Ch. 3

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Ch. 3 Climate and Vegetation
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Ch. 3.1 Seasons and Weather
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Seasons

• Seasons are determined by two factors
• Earths tilt
• Earths revolution around the sun

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• Solstice
• Summer marks longest day
• Winter marks the shortest day
• Equinox
• Both day and night are equal all over world
• Marks the beginning of spring and fall

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Weather

• Weather condition of atmosphere at a specific
  time.
• Climate atmospheric condition over a period of
  time.

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Weather Factors

• 1. cloud cover
• 2. landforms bodies of water
• 3. elevation
• 4. air movement
• 5. water vapor

• Precipitation falling water in the form of rain
  or snow (3 types)

Convectional- rain forest
Orographic- coastal
Frontal- great plains
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Weather Extremes

• 5 Different extremes
• Hurricanes
• Tornados
• Blizzards
• Droughts
• Floods

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Hurricane/Typhoons

• Storms that form over warm ocean waters.
• Take days to develop and are easy to track

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Tornados

• Powerful, funnel shaped, column of spiraling air.
• Come from powerful thunderstorm.
• Form quickly with little warning

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Blizzards

• Heavy snow storm with winds of 35 mph.
• Great Lakes area is snowbelt
• Avg. 37 ½ feet per year.

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Droughts

• A long period of time without rain or minimum
  rainfall
• Results in crop failures and reduces levels of
  water storage.
• In severe cases can cause famine.

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Floods

• Occur when
• river banks can not hold river water
• or the ground becomes saturated during a heavy
  storm.

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Ch. 3.2 Climate

• 5 major factors that influence climate
• Wind currents
• Ocean currents
• Latitude
• Elevation
• Topography

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1. Wind Currents

• Convection distribution of sun heated
  atmosphere through the motion of air
• 2 types of air
• Warm air Low pressure zone
• Cold air High pressure zone
• Transfer of air from
• H L zones creates wind.

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2. Ocean Currents

• Like rivers in the ocean
• Warm water from the equator to the poles
• Cold water from the poles to the equator

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3. Zones of Latitude

• 3 Zones
• Low/Tropical
• Mid/Temperate
• High/Polar

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4. Elevation

• As altitude increases the temp. drops 3.5 degrees
  per 1000 ft.
• Climates above 12,000 ft. become like arctic
  areas.

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5. Topography

• Landforms like mountains, affect climate
• Rain shadow is an example

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Changes in Climate

• Are either due to

2. Human Activities
1. Natural Causes
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El Nino

• Warming of ocean waters off the west coast of S.
  America
• Pushes warm waters and heavy rains toward Americas

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Greenhouse Effect

• Layer of gasses created by the burning of fossil
  fuels, traps heated air.

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Ch. 3.3 World Climate Regions

• Generalizations of typical weather conditions
  found in certain areas of the earth
• 2 biggest factors in determining regions
• Temp.
• Precipitation

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12 Types of climate

• 1. Tropical Wet
• Little temp. variation, typically hot, (around 80
  degrees)
• 2. Tropical wet and dry
• Has both a wet (warm) and dry (cold) seasons
• 3. Semiarid
• Little precip. about 16 in. per year.

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• 4. Desert
• Categorized by amount of rainfall (lack of
  moisture), not landforms
• 5. Mediterranean
• Dry hot summers, winters cool and rainy
• 6. Marine west coast
• Cloudy, foggy and damp and located close to the
  ocean
• 7. Humid subtropical
• Summers hot and humid, winters are mild to cool
• 8. Humid continental
• Great variety in temp. and precipitation.

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• 9. Subarctic
• Huge temp. variation between summer and winter
• 10. Tundra
• Flat treeless land almost exclusively in Northern
  Hemisphere
• Permafrost soil is constantly frozen
• 11. Ice Cap
• Snow, ice, permanently frozen temp.
• 12. Highlands
• Climate varies with lat., elevation, topography

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Ch. 3.4 Soils and Vegetation

• Soil weathered rock, humus, air, water that
  covers the ground
• Depth, texture, humus content of soil determine
  the type of vegetation that can be supported
• Temp and precipitation also influence

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Vegetation Regions

• Ecosystem Interdependent community of plants and
  animals
• Biome ecosystem of a region
• 4 Types of Biomes
• Forest
• Grassland
• Desert
• Tundra

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1. Forestlands

• Two Types

• 2. Coniferous
• Needleleaf
• ie. pine

• Deciduous
• Broadleaf
• ie. cottonwood

The Rain forest is located in the tropical zone
covered with broadleaf trees.
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2. Grasslands

• Mostly flat dotted with a few trees.
• Two types

1. Savanna

• Steppe or Praire
• Northern Hemisphere

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3. Desert

• Characterized by plants that can conserve water
  and withstand heat like

Cactus
Sagebrush
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4. Tundra

• Characterized by plants that tolerate the cold
  and dry conditions by hugging the ground like

Moss
Lichen
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Human Impact on Environment
Dams
Crops