1 / 31

The Earth and Climate

The Earth and Climate. Chapter 1 Unit D. Objectives. distinguish between weather and climate describe the major characteristics of the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the lithosphere as part of the biosphere will define inversions

brilliant
Download Presentation

The Earth and Climate

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Earth and Climate Chapter 1 Unit D

  2. Objectives • distinguish between weather and climate • describe the major characteristics of the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the lithosphere as part of the biosphere • will define inversions • explain how climate affects the lives and activity of people and other species • distinguish between anecdotal and scientific evidence

  3. Weather vs. Climate • Weather – conditions of temperature, air pressure, cloud cover, precipitation (rain or snow), and humidity • Occur at a particular place and time

  4. Weather vs. Climate • Climate – average weather conditions that occur in a region over a long period of time (min. 30 years) • Ex. Climate of Alberta: • average temp in summer = 14 °C – 20 °C • average annual precipitation = 442 mm

  5. Telling the difference • Identify the following statements as examples of weather or of climate: • 1) today is very hot • 2) we usually get a lot of rain this time of year • PICTURES

  6. The Biosphere • The biosphere –the sphere of life – was named by Eduard Suess in 1875 but not fully described as a concept until the work of Vladimir Vernadsky in the 1920s. http://www.agci.org/classroom/biosphere/index.php

  7. The Biosphere • Thin layer of Earth with conditions suitable for supporting life • Composed of all living things on Earth and physical environment supporting them • Biotic part – living component • Abiotic part – non-living component

  8. The Biosphere • Three interacting abiotic components: • Atmosphere – layer of gases surrounding the Earth • Lithosphere – solid portion of Earth (rocks, minerals and elements) • Hydrosphere – all water on Earth (liquid, vapor, and ice) (97% salt water)

  9. Can you think of areas in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere that are NOT part of the biosphere?

  10. The Biosphere • Environmental conditions arise from interactions of these components with the Sun and interactions between the components • Creates climate

  11. Climate: Clues to the past • Work on Activity D1 (handout) • Scientists use tree cores to give us clues about past environmental conditions

  12. The Atmosphere • Rises over 500 km from surface of Earth • Mixture of gases • Most abundant gas is? Second most abundant? • How are these gases used by living things? • Also contains atmospheric dust • Very small • Include soot, pollen, micro-organisms

  13. Atmosphere

  14. Modelling Atmospheres • Work on Activity D2 • Will need graph paper • More info about planet atmospheres at: http://msnucleus.org/membership/html/k-6/uc/solar_system/5/ucss5_3a.html

  15. % Composition of Venus

  16. % Composition of 3 Atmospheres

  17. The Atmosphere • Broken up into 4 layers (determined by average air temperature) • Troposphere • Stratosphere • Mesosphere • Thermosphere • Found at different altitudes Distance above Earth’s surface from sea level

  18. Check out the Interactive Atmosphere: http://aspire.cosmic-ray.org/labs/ozone/atmosphere_real.html

  19. Troposphere • 0 – 10 km from Earth’s surface • Average temp. = 15 °C (at surface)  - 60 °C (decreases) • 80% of atmospheric gases by mass • Layer which supports life • Most CO2, water vapor and atmospheric dust • Layer where most weather occurs • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqo9UhLNn04&feature=related (Bill Nye)

  20. Stratosphere • Above troposphere • 10 km – 50 km above surface • Temperature increases away from surface • - 60 °C  0 °C • Contains most ozone (O3(g)) making the ozone layer • Ozone captures energy from Sun, increasing temp. with altitude

  21. Mesosphere • Third layer • Temperature range: 0 °C  - 100 °C • Very little gas

  22. Thermosphere • Farthest layer • Temperature range: -100 °C  1500 °C (increases) • Very little gas

  23. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CerJbZ-dm0&feature=related

  24. Lithosphere • Solid portion of Earth floating above semi-fluid upper mantle • Extends from Earth’s surface to 100 km below • Runs under continents and oceans • Warmed mainly by the Sun and a little bit by molten mantle • Differences in the lithosphere (i.e. amount of albedo) can affect amount of atmospheric water vapour, as well as our environmental conditions • Portion life exists on is the crust

  25. Lithosphere

  26. Lithosphere • The crust is the part of the lithosphere that life exists on, and is eggshell thin

  27. Hydrosphere • Water! • 97% is salt water in oceans • 3% fresh water  can be in lakes, streams or frozen (most fresh water is snow and glaciers, or ground water) • Amount of water stays the same • Warmed mainly by Sun

  28. Interactions • How do the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere interact? • In pairs, brainstorm some ways they interact. We will be making a class list of the interactions you came up with

  29. Altitude and Temperature • Altitude- distance above the Earth’s surface • In troposphere, tend to decrease temperature with altitude • This trend can be reversed • Inversion- reversal of normal temperature in the troposphere • May trap unusually cold air close to the ground • Happens more often near mountains • Can trap pollutants

More Related