Air, Weather and Climate


Weather is the day to day fluctuations in the atmosphere while __________ describes temperature and humidity changes over long periods of time. ___________ are not static- they cycle through yearly, centurial and millennial patterns.

Initially the climate on Earth was a deadly mixture of Hydrogen, Helium and ___________ from the outgassing of molten rock. 3 billion years ago __________ was added to our atmosphere with the evolution of photosynthetic organisms.

Milankovitch cycles- animation

  • Periodic shifts in earth's orbit (100,000 year cycle), tilt (40,000 year cycle) and axis wobble (a 26,000 year cycle).
  • The timing of all three of these phenomenon are such that every __________ years or so the Earth finds itself very far from the sun- enough to trigger an _____ ______!

Air pressure at sea level is _________ lbs per square inch known as one Atmoshere. Air pressure ___________ with altitude. The surface of the Earth also experiences low pressure when warm air masses rises due to low density.

 

Air composition

  • ____________- 78%
  • Oxygen- 21%
  • Traces of Water Vapor, Argon and Carbon dioxide

The Atmosphere has four distinct layers.

________________ (roughly 10 km up)

  • The layer closest to earth. Holds 75% air mass.
  • Gets __________ with altitude
  • Weather happens here, also only layer with water

Stratosphere

  • The top of the stratosphere contains ___________- O3
  • Temperature _____________ with altitude because of UV absorption
    • Ozone absorbs high level UV radiation from the sun. Less UV light hits the Earth.
    • Excessive UV light on the Earth causes skin ___________, cataracts and mutates and kills plankton (the ocean's bread basket).
  • Ozone molecules are being broken down by _______s (chlorofluorocarbons). Their use is now internationally outlawed. It was an ingredient in _________ sprays, refrigerator coolants and electrical cleaning solvents.

Mesosphere

  • Temperature ______________ with height

Thermosphere

  • Highly ionized gas interacts with magnetosphere to create Aurora borealis (Northern Lights)!

Global Energy Transfer- before _____________ global energy was in ____________.

  • Most of the energy from the sun is in the high energy wavelengths- ________ and visible light.
  • _________% of this energy is absorbed at the surface.
  • Energy reflected from the surface is _________ (longer wavelengths)

Convection- the transfer of energy of a warm fluid (like gas or water) upwards into a ___________ zone. The cycle of air upwards around and down is called Convection Currents.

Why it rains in a rain forest: The sun's energy is concentrated near the __________. Rising hot air expands and cools (called __________ cooling). Colder air _______ hold as much moisture so after a certain altitude, the air dumps out its water vapor in the form of water droplets- the stuff of clouds. Rising air creates low pressure and lots of nasty weather, unless you are a tropical plant in which case you are very happy. As the water vapor condenses it gives up ________ __________ energy- this helps large cloud formations rise higher, cool more and build energy to form large storm systems like hurricanes.

Why it is dry in a desert: At ______ degrees North and South latitude the air is cooling, becoming more dense and sinking. Sinking air creates _______ pressure. High pressure days are cloudless great tanning weather kind of days, unless you are thirsty.

 

ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION

Global winds are caused by the constant balancing act going on in our atmosphere as moist, warm air travels upward from the Equator and then cools and sinks at the 30 degree latitude belt. The air rises again at the _______ latitude and sinks at the poles. When the air moves laterally across the Earth's surface from belt to belt (High to Low pressure) it creates ________- we live in the ____________ wind belt which is why all of our weather comes from West to East. Below us are the ________ winds which blow towards the ___________.

All wind belts are curved to the rotation of the Earth knows as the _________ __________. In the Northern hemisphere the air curves to the ________. In the south it curves to the_______. These curving winds are also partially responsible for the direction of the major ocean currents of the world.

The Coriolis effect also spins __________ and __________.

  • Cyclones are low pressure centers with winds that blow inwards in a __________ direction. Weather conditions are very _________.
  • _____________ are high pressure centers with cooler, sinking air that then spin clockwise outwards. Clear skies are created.

Hurricanes (or ___________ in the Pacific Ocean) are a hundred mile wide cyclones that last several weeks. Despite their relatively puny wind speeds (75- _____ mph) hurricanes are much more deadly than tornadoes. Between the heavy rain fall, mud slides and storm surges, people lose their lives by ___________.

Why are their no hurricanes in Panama?

Tornadoes- a mini cyclone that begin when the jet streams shear off the top of an especially large _____________ cloud (cool, huh?). The cloud tightens as it sinks downward and spins faster due to angular __________. The fastest tornado winds have been clocked at 318 mph. Most lives are lost in a tornado due to being struck by something that has no business flying.

 

Atmosphere-Ocean Interactions

Ocean currents are in part driven by global winds.

____________- seasonal rains and droughts caused by the differential temperatures of land and oceans. In the ________, the land heats up faster than the sea, so a low pressure center develops on land. Moist air from the ocean rush in to "fill" in the pressure void and __________ rains last for four months or more. Then, during the winter, the ocean, which has a higher heat capacity, is now warmer than the land and winds tend to move towards the sea. A long term __________ ensues.

 

La Nina- The "normal" state of affairs with relatively cool ocean temperatures on the Equatorial Pacific Ocean.

  • _______ winds blow warm water in the South Pacific towards the _______ Pacific Ocean. This causes a low pressure system off of Australia and Indonesia which leads to lots of _______.
  • Nutrient rich water upwells off the coast of South America feeding a burgeoning _________ population.
  • Back in the States we experience warm winters in the _____ and cold winters in _____ and the Middle Atlantic. Southern California is _____ (the brats!) and Washington is ______ (poor Kurt).

El Nino- ENSO: El Nino Southern Oscillation, occurs every 3-5 years. Used to last 2 weeks to a month, now last _____ to _____ years!!!

  • Unusually warm ocean temperatures on Equator (made worse by global warming) cause the ______ winds to weaken. Warm water is sloshed back to South America
  • No upwelling of nutrient rich water occurs off of Peru and the _______ population falls.
  • Food chain is disturbed and fisherman go broke.
  • The jet stream splits over America causing lots of weird weather.
  • New Paltz gets ______ winters while the South West US and Peru gets _________!!
    Seattle goes _______ as does the West Pacific causing large bush fires in Australia and Borneo- 8 million acres burned several years ago :(

 

Global Warming

Officially called Climate Change by our government- doesn't sound as scary. May be now be more accurately called Climate Instability.

  • The burning of ______ ______ creates greenhouse gases- especially ______ _______.
  • Since 1800 we've gone from 280 ppm to _______ ppm of CO2. (Prehistoric data is obtained by sampling the air bubbles trapped deep inside ice sheets.)
  • Other gases implicated in global warming are water vapor, methane- mooo! (CH4), N20 (laughing gas) and sulfur hexafluoride.
  • The massive deforestation around the planet also adds to the greenhouse effect because our natural carbon dioxide sinks are compromised... ok, dead.

These greenhouse gases trap infrared heat energy trying to exit the planet and the Earth is heated up- already we've noticed a ______ degree F change. That doesn't sound like much but it only took a reduction of _____ degrees to trigger an ice age. Scientists think that even a 2 degree Celius increase in temperature will cause floods, droughts and extreme weather events.

2011 was one of the most extreme weather years in history.

Effects of Global Warming include:

  • Glaciers melting and huge icebergs calving off ______ ______. The Arctic sea is now _____% thinner. Many alpine glaciers are shrinking quickly or melting altogether. (Communities at the foothills of glaciers may run out of drinking water).
  • Creates sea level rise (____ inches projected in next 100 years). If all of the glaciers/ice sheets melted the sea level would rise _______ feet. (The oceans would rise from thermal expansion as well).
  • Drought/ fires are more common due to changes in weather patterns.
  • Crop failure- US _______ basket is now moving to Canada- only problem is that the soil is thin and not particularly fertile.
  • More ________ disease will spread due to more tropical areas- malaria is coming- agghhh!
  • Extreme weather- contrary to popular misconception- winters get more ferocious and of course summers get hotter.
  • Coral reefs are being "_________" by the hotter temperatures. That means that the algae that lives commensually on the coral is dying. It is projected that the reefs have ______ years left... poor Nemo!
  • Extinctions and migrations- animals and plants are changing location. Some can't migrate fast enough to out pace environmental changes. Some questions to ponder:
    • How does this climate change compare with migrations due to periods of glaciation?
    • What types of animals are being forced to migrate due to climate shifts?
    • How is plant life changing on the plant?

 

REDUCING CLIMATE CHANGE

_________ Protocol

In 1997, 162 countries gathered together in Japan to figure out how to slow global warming. EVERY COUNTRY agreed to limit their carbon dioxide production and signed a treaty to that effect, except for the ______ and ___________. It really shocked and disturbed the world, especially when George Bush senior said, "We are going to put the interests of our own country first and foremost" and "The American _________ is not up for negotiation." We tried really hard to create a "carbon credit" for polluting the air with CO2 in exchange for having a fair amount of land forested, but the countries won't go for it. The US produces ______% of the world CO2, and yet has less than____% of the world's population.The Bush administration responded to environmentalists' pressure by pledging lots of money to investigate the NATURAL causes of global warming (okay volcanoes DO make CO2... ).

Many people argue that historically we've seen massive fluctuations in temperature on the Earth, but the point is that the present _______ of temperature change is unprecedented, and inconveniently coincides with human-caused increases in _______ levels... The plot thickens.

Why isn't America taking Climate change more seriously? Maybe Trend and Variation has something to do with it?

Recent Climate Change talks in Durban, South Africa did not result in a binding world agreement to reduce the burning of fossil fuels.

Climate Change Special

Extreme Ice: Nova

 

Seasons

How does solar intensity change with latitude? What causes the seasons on the Earth?

  • The seasons of the Earth are caused by the revolution of the Earth around the Sun on an angular, _______ degree tilt.
  • When the Northern Hemisphere is experiencing a season, the _________________ season is occuring in the Southern Hemisphere!

SUMMER

  • When the North Pole is tilted toward the sun, we experience ___________.
  • The sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of ____________, 23.5 degrees N.
  • The sun's rays become more concentrated on the Northern Hemisphere resulting in __________ temperatures.
  • There are also double the hours of ___________ than in winter!

WINTER

  • When the South Pole is tilted toward the _______, we experience winter.
  • The sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of _____________, 23.5 degrees S.
  • The sun's rays become more concentrated on the Southern Hemisphere resulting in __________ temperatures.
  • A day only lasts 8 hours in __________!
  • When we are experiencing winter we are actually closer to the sun by 3 __________ miles!!!

SPRING AND FALL

  • The sun's rays hit the ___________ causing everywhere on Earth to have 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night!
  • The sun is directly overhead at the ______________, 0 degrees latitude.