1 / 21

Chapter 4 Global Climate and Biomes

Chapter 4 Global Climate and Biomes. Unequal Heating of the Earth. Regions near the equator (0 o ) receive light at 90 o High latitudes receive light at low angles Sun rays travel shorter distance to equator (energy is lost the farther it travels)

idola-yang
Download Presentation

Chapter 4 Global Climate and Biomes

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. Chapter 4 Global Climate and Biomes

  2. Unequal Heating of the Earth • Regions near the equator (0o) receive light at 90o • High latitudes receive light at low angles • Sun rays travel shorter distance to equator (energy is lost the farther it travels) • Sun rays distributed over smaller area (more concentrated) • Albedo Earth

  3. Solar energy is concentrated near the equator Image: Netherlands Center for Climate Research

  4. absorbed solar energy Energy 90 45 0 45 90 Latitude

  5. absorbed solar energy Emitted IR energy Energy 90 45 0 45 90 Latitude

  6. More energy is absorbed near the equator than emitted And more energy is emitted near the poles than is absorbed. absorbed solar energy Emitted IR energy Energy 90 45 0 45 90 Latitude

  7. net radiation surplus Energy 90 45 0 45 90 Latitude

  8. Excess energy at the equator is transferred towards the poles by convection cells net radiation surplus Energy net radiation deficit 90 45 0 45 90 Latitude

  9. Solar energy received is greatest near the equator. Energy is moved from the equator to the poles.

  10. Solar Energy Solar energy received is greatest near the equator. Energy is moved from the equator to the poles. Energy is transferred by wind and ocean currents

  11. Hadley Circulation Cell Air near the equator is warmed, and rises solar radiation

  12. Hadley Circulation Cell H The rising air creates a circulation cell, called a Hadley Cell H L solar radiation H Rising air  low pressure Sinking air  high pressure

  13. Hadley Circulation Cell Rising air is replaced Warm air rises

  14. Hadley Circulation Cell Air cools, sinks Rising air is replaced Warm air rises

  15. Hadley Circulation Cell Air cools, sinks Rising air is replaced Warm air rises HIGH HIGH LOW

  16. Rising air cools; the air’s capacity to hold water drops. Rain! Air cools, sinks No rain in regions where air is descending Rising air is replaced Warm air rises HIGH HIGH LOW

  17. The Coriolis Effect What makes Venus different? • Rotation of the Earth leads to the Coriolis Effect • This causes winds (and all moving objects) to be deflected: • to the right in the Northern Hemisphere • to the left in the Southern Hemisphere

  18. The Coriolis Effect Based on conservation ofangular momentum We experience linear momentum when we are in a car that is traveling fast and then stops suddenly.

  19. Planet Earth rotates once per day. Objects near the poles travel slower than those near the equator.

  20. Objects near the poles have less angular momentum than those near the equator. When objects move poleward, their angular momentum causes them to go faster than the surrounding air. Conversely, they slow as they move towards the equator.

  21. When objects move north or south, their angular momentum causes them to appear to go slower or faster. This is why traveling objects (or air parcels) deflect to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere.

More Related