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INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

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INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

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  1. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

  2. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY This is NOT a class about remembering the names, locations, or measures of physical features and natural phenomena around the world. Instead you will learn the physical explanation for their presence, location and magnitude through the application of simple laws of physical science. This will create a knowledge base which you can apply to a variety of future and past scenarios, as well as build upon to better understand issues facing our global physical environment.

  3. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Course Objectives. 1. To understand the nature of solar energy reaching the surface of the Earth, and its temporal and global variability.

  4. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Course Objectives. 2. To understand the nature and origin of energy arriving at the surface of the Earth from within the planet, the mechanisms of this energy transfer, and their geographic distribution.

  5. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Course Objectives. 3. To understand how the interactions of oceans, continents and atmosphere transfer energy from places experiencing excess energy to those of deficit energy, and how this gives rise to the typical climate of a location.

  6. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Course Objectives. 4. To understandwhy energy from within the Earth arrives at specific, restricted geographic locations, and how these patterns give rise to the macro-scale geography of our planet.

  7. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Course Objectives. 5. To understand the processes by which the competing forces driven by energy derived from the climate system and those from within the Earth interact to produce typical landscapes.

  8. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Course Objectives. 6. To indicate the ways in which all of the above impinge upon human behavior, our interaction with our environment, and in turn, how our behavior may impact our environment.

  9. INTRODUCTORY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Course Content. • The course is divided into three portions: • The first half deals with the Earth’s climate system. • The third quarter considers the nature and distribution of energy from within the Earth. • The final quarter examines the interaction of the two former sets of forces in shaping landscapes.

  10. WHAT IS GLOBAL CLIMATE AND ITS STUDY, GLOBAL CLIMATOLOGY? Weather: Highly variable from location to location, time period to time period, week to week, day to day, hour to hour. Very erratic and very hard to forecast accurately any more than a day or two ahead

  11. WHAT IS GLOBAL CLIMATE AND ITS STUDY, GLOBAL CLIMATOLOGY? Climate: Weather aggregated over many years Why is it hot is June –August and cool December- February? Why do max. temps appear to “plateau” in summer, but not in winter? Average Daily Maximum Temperatures. Lake City, Florida, 1893-2010

  12. WHAT IS GLOBAL CLIMATE AND ITS STUDY, GLOBAL CLIMATOLOGY? Climate: Weather aggregated over many years Why is the range of likely maximum daily temperatures so much larger in winter than in summer? Average Daily Maximum Temperatures, and measure of variability. Lake City, Florida, 1893-2010

  13. WHAT IS GLOBAL CLIMATE AND ITS STUDY, GLOBAL CLIMATOLOGY? Climate: Weather aggregated over many years Why do the risks of exceeding 97°F peak in June, then plateau through July and August, before declining in the Fall? Average Daily Maximum Temperatures, and measure of variability. AND risks of temperatures greater than 97°F! Lake City, Florida, 1893-2010

  14. WHAT IS GLOBAL CLIMATE AND ITS STUDY, GLOBAL CLIMATOLOGY? VARIATIONS IN SPACE TOO! TIME AND SPACE! Climate: Weather aggregated over many years Average maximum annual temperature, °F 1949 - 2000 • Why are the highest annual maxima found in North Florida? • Why are maximum temperatures greater inland compared to the coast?

  15. TIME SCALES - Seasonal PERCENTAGE OF MEAN ANNUAL PRECIPITATION OCCURRING IN WINTER. 1949 - 2000 • Why does NW Florida receive a higher % of its annual precip. in winter? • Why does S Florida experience such a low % in winter?

  16. TIME SCALES – Interannual – global Connections. COLD PHASE ENSO – La Niña NEUTRAL PHASE ENSO WARM PHASE ENSO – El Niño Why does a change in sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific impact the precip. in Florida? Proportion of annual precipitation during winter under various ENSO phases.

  17. TIME SCALES – Interannual Why areas of Florida can anticipate the greatest changes in rainfall dependent upon the equatorial Pacific? Differences in Proportion of annual precipitation During winter Warm phase - Cold phases.

  18. TIME SCALES – Interdecadal How do the risks of the number of heat waves annually change with long-term changes in the temperature of the Atlantic Ocean?

  19. WHAT IS GLOBAL CLIMATE AND ITS STUDY, GLOBAL CLIMATOLOGY? “Climate is what you expect,……..” Includes average, variability and extremes

  20. WHAT IS GLOBAL CLIMATE AND ITS STUDY, GLOBAL CLIMATOLOGY? “Climate is what you expect,……..” Includes average, variability and extremes “………. Weather is what you get!”

  21. HOW ARE WE GOING TO STUDY IT?

  22. HOW ARE WE GOING TO STUDY IT? Flows of Energy and Mass. Movements of Energy and Mass within the Earth’s Atmospheric System

  23. WHAT’S THE BASIC PROBLEM?

  24. WHAT’S THE BASIC PROBLEM? Source of Energy: SUN

  25. WHAT’S THE BASIC PROBLEM? Target Planet of Interest: EARTH Source of Energy: SUN

  26. WHAT’S THE BASIC PROBLEM? 1. About 92.6 million miles (150 million Km) Target Planet of Interest: EARTH Source of Energy: SUN

  27. WHAT’S THE BASIC PROBLEM? 2. Target rotating anti-clockwise around own axis once every 24 hrs. 1. About 92.6 million miles (150 million Km) Target Planet of Interest: EARTH Source of Energy: SUN

  28. WHAT’S THE BASIC PROBLEM? 2. Target rotating anti-clockwise around own axis once every 24 hr. 1. About 92.6 million miles (150 million Km) 3. Target revolving around source once every 365.25 dy Target Planet of Interest: EARTH Source of Energy: SUN

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