Chapter 3Climate and Vegetation

SeasonsSolstice – The day when the suns rays shine directly overhead at noon. Summer Solstice – longest day of the yearWinter Solstice – shortest day of the year

Equinox – The days and nights all over the world are equal in length

Types of Precipitation

Weather Extremes

• The clashes between air masses cause storms such as hurricanes and Tornadoes .

• Hurricanes also known as Typhoons, cyclones, wily-willies

• Tornado – also known as a Twister is a powerful funnel shaped column of spiraling air

• Wind swirl counter-clockwise

•A tropical depression is an organized system of clouds and thunderstorms with a defined, closed surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of less than 38 miles per hour

•A tropical storm is an organized system of strong thunderstorms with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds between 39 miles per hour 73 miles per hour

•A hurricane or typhoon is a system with sustained winds of at least 74 miles per hour. A cyclone of this intensity tends to develop an eye, an area of relative calm (and lowest atmospheric pressure) at the center of circulation. The eye is often visible in satellite images as a small, circular, cloud-free spot.

Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale

Category Wind speed Storm surge

mph(km/h)(kn)

ft(m)

Five≥ 156(≥ 250)(≥ 136)

> 18(> 5.5)

Four131–155(210–249)(114–135)

13–18(4.0–5.5)

Three111–130(178–209)(96–113)

9–12(2.7–3.7)

Two96–110(154–177)(83–95)

6–8(1.8–2.4)

One74–95(119–153)(64–82)

4–5(1.2–1.5)

Additional classifications

Tropicalstorm

39–73(63–117)(35–63)

0–3(0–0.9)

Tropicaldepression

0–38(0–62)(0–34)

0(0)

Hurricanes

Galveston Hurricane of 1900

• Category 4 storm • Deadliest hurricane in recorded history and

second most costly.• 8,000-12,000 lives lost• Before the Hurricane of 1900, Galveston was

known as the "Ellis Island of the West" and the "Wall Street of the Southwest". However, after the storm, development shifted north to Houston. Galveston never regained its former status as a major commercial center.

The Fujita scale (F-Scale), or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation.

tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone

Tornadoes

Scale

Estimated wind speed*[3]

Relative frequency[

citation needed]

Average Damage Path Width (meters)[citation needed

]

Potential damage[3]mph km/h

F0 40–72 64–116 38.9% 10–50

Light damage. Some damage to chimneys; branches broken off trees; shallow-rooted trees pushed over; sign boards damaged.

F1 73–112 117–180 35.6% 30–150

Moderate damage. The lower limit is the beginning of hurricane wind speed; peels surface off roofs; mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned; moving autos pushed off the roads; attached garages may be destroyed.

F2 113–157 181–253 19.4% 110–250

Significant damage. Roofs torn off frame houses; mobile homes demolished; boxcars overturned; large trees snapped or uprooted; highrise windows broken and blown in; light-object missiles generated.

F3 158–206 254–332 4.9% 200–500

Severe damage. Roofs and some walls torn off well-constructed houses; most trees in forest uprooted; skyscrapers twisted and deformed with massive destruction of exteriors; heavy cars lifted off the ground and thrown.

F4 207–260 333–418 1.1% 400–900

Devastating damage. Well-constructed houses leveled; structures with weak foundations blown away some distance; trains overturned; cars thrown and large missiles generated. Skyscrapers and highrises toppled and destroyed.

F5 261–318 419–512 <0.1% 1100 ~

Incredible damage. Strong frame houses lifted off foundations and carried considerable distances to disintegrate; automobile sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 m (109 yd); trees debarked; steel reinforced concrete structures badly damaged.

Tornado Alley: a colloquial term for the area of the United States where tornadoes

are most frequent.

BLIZZARDSA heavy snowstorm with winds of more than 35 miles per hour and reduced visibility.

DROUGHTA long period of time without rain or with very minimal rainfall.

FLOODS

• When water spreads over land not normally covered with water

SECTION 1

Factors Affecting ClimateThe Sun’s Effect on Earth

The Sun’s energy reaches Earth

Half of the energy is reflected back into space or absorbed by the atmosphere.

The other half is absorbed by Earth’s surface and converted into heat energy.

The atmosphere traps this heat in a process called the greenhouse effect.

The greenhouse effect helps keep the planet warm.

Factors Affecting Climate

• Wind Currents• Ocean Currents• Elevations• Topography

Wind Systems Prevailing Winds – Winds that usually blow from

the same direction • Trade Winds –blow from the subtropical high pressure

zone toward the equatorial low pressure zone. There are NE and SE Trade Winds.

Doldrums – calm areas with no prevailing winds along the equator.

Westerlies – West-to-East winds at Middle Latitudes.

Polar Winds –mainly come from the east and occur at the poles.

EL NINO

• Weather pattern created by the warming of the waters off the west coast of South American which pushes warm water and heavy rains toward the Americas and produces drought conditions in Australia and Asia (generally happens ever seven years)

La NINA

La NINA creates a reverse affect. The Americas experience extreme droughts while Australia and India Experience Increase rainfall.

Global Energy Systems

Temperature – the measurement of heat energy.

Greenhouse Effect – earth’s atmosphere allows sunlight to pass through it, but when the sunlight is changed into heat energy it is trapped by the atmosphere, and this keeps the planet warm.

Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems.

Called the Koppen System

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/climate.htm

The 12 types of climate regions Tropical humid Tropical wet and dry Arid Semiarid Mediterranean Humid Subtropical Marine West Coast Humid Continental Sub artic Tundra Ice Cap Highland

Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes. Tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturi, meaning treeless plain. It is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons. Dead organic material functions as a nutrient pool. The two major nutrients are nitrogen and phosphorus. Characteristics of tundra include:

1.Extremely cold climate 2.Low biotic diversity 3.Simple vegetation structure 4.Limitation of drainage 5.Short season of growth and reproduction 6.Energy and nutrients in the form of dead organic material 7.Large population oscillations Tundra is separated into two types:•Arctic tundra •Alpine tundra

•Permafrost – soil that is constantly frozen

Tundra

Highland climates are cool to cold, found in mountains and high plateaus. Climates change rapidly on mountains, becoming colder the higher the altitude gets. The climate of a highland area is closely related to the climate of the surrounding biome. The highlands have the same seasons and wet and dry periods as the biome they are in.

• Temperature Range: -18 °C to 10 °C (-2 °F to 50°F) • Average Annual Precipitation: 23 cm (9 in.) • Latitude Range: found all over the world • Global Position: Rocky Mountain Range in North America, the

Andean mountain range in South America, the Alps in Europe, Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, the Himalayans in Tibet, Mt. Fuji in Japan.

Highlands

World Vegetation

•GRASSLANDS•FORESTLANDS•DESERT AND TUNDRA•TROPICAL GRASSLANDS•MEDITERRANEAN SHURB•MIXED FOREST•CONIFERIOUS FOREST•HIGHLAND

SAVANNA

•Flat regions dotted with a few trees

Rainforest

•Heavy concentration of trees mostly in tropical areas

Semi arid vs. Desert