Dynamic Planet- Sub unit 3 Battle for the Biosphere

1. Dynamic Planet- Sub unit 3Battle for the Biosphere 3.1a What is the value of the biosphere? What are biomes? Why are they important? What causes differences between them?

2. Key Term • A biome is a major regional group of distinctive plant and animal communities best adapted to the region's physical natural environment, latitude, altitude and terrain factors. • A biome is composed of the climax vegetation and all associated sub climax, or degraded, vegetation, fauna and soils, but can often be identified by the climax vegetation type.

3. Biome • Ecosystem • Altitude • Latitude • Biodiversity • Ocean currents Match up the key terms to the correct definition on your sheet

4. Describe the distribution of these major biomes- desert, deciduous forest, rainforest, Savanna and tundra

6. Factors that affect CLIMATE Brainstorm the factors which you think effect climate in the back of your book – discuss with people around you.

7. 1 - Latitude • The further you travel away from the equator the cooler it gets. Why is this? • This is because the Earth is curved. Look at the picture above. The sun rays hitting the Earth at a higher latitude are spread out over a greater area. Over the Equator the rays are concentrated in to a smaller area – this is why it is hot at the equator and very cold at the poles. • However, the picture is more complicated than this as other factors have a bearing on the climate in different parts of the world.

8. 2 - Altitude This is the effect of height on temperature - the higher you go, the colder it gets. The sun heats up the earth’s surface and then heat is radiated back up into the atmosphere.

9. The higher up, the lower the temperature, about -1C for each 100 metres. Everest.

11. During summer, temperature is strongly controlled by elevation -- cold at the higher reaches of the Alaska and Brooks Ranges, and warmer in the lowlands.

12. How does elevation affect climate? As elevation _________, the average annual temperature __________. increases decreases Temperature Elevation

13. 3 - Prevailing Winds The movement of the earth’s winds starts at the equator, where it is hottest. There are certain set patterns of winds called prevailing winds, which means that direction winds travels most of the time. Wind affects the climate where it has travelled over the : Maritime - ocean Continental - overland

14. 4. World Wind and Pressure Belts • Colour high pressure areas BLUE and low pressure RED 2. Add Hadley Cells, latitude numbers and wind direction arrows http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/4316.html

15. How is a Hadley Cell Formed? Sun heats equator As air cools it can no longer rise Cold air sinks at the Horse Latitudes Air rises and cools in the atmosphere Ground heats air HIGH LOW WIND moves between high and low pressure

17. 5. Continentality- closeness to water Land heats up quickly and cools quickly. Sea heats up slowly and cools slowly.

18. Continentality In Summer the sea takes longer to heat up, places near the sea will be slightly cooler. But land heats up quickly, places in the centre of large landmasses will be very warm. The opposite happens in winter.

19. 5. Continentality (Closeness to water)

20. These 2 places are both at the same latitude, but look at the variation in temperature this is due to the closeness to water

21. How does closeness to a large body of water affect climate? Water __________ the temperature. _______ summers. _______ winters. moderates Cooler Warmer Cities A & B are located at the same latitude. City B is closer to a large body of water. Its temperature line is flatter (moderated).

22. 6. The effect of relief rainfall http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/538.html

24. The leeward sides of the Adirondacks & Catskills receive much less precipitation The windward sides of the Adirondacks & Catskills receive a great deal more precipitation

25. How does the Orographic Effect affect climate? Windward Side: ___________ Leeward Side: _____________ cool, moist warm, dry

26. 7. Ocean Currents

27. Ocean currents- Gulf stream Also known as the North Atlantic Drift. A current of warm water that travels from the Gulf of Mexico. This, along with the prevailing South-Westerly wind, enables a relatively warmer climate compared to areas on the same latitude.

28. The Gulf Stream

29. How do ocean currents affect climate? Warm Currents: warmer climate Cold Currents: cooler climate

30. 8. Albedo- colour of land Some surfaces reflect more heat than others. Ice reflects heat, Earth and Ocean retain heat.

31. Local examples

33. The Congo is the Earth's second largest river by volume and has the world's second largest rainforest (18% of the planet's remaining tropical rainforest). The Congo Basin represents 70% of the African continent's plant cover and makes up a large portion of Africa's biodiversity with over 600 tree species and 10 000 animal species. Six nations -- Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon -- share the 1.5 million square mile Congo basin. The Congo is one of the world's most threatened ecosystems. Commercial logging, clearing for subsistence agriculture, and widespread civil strife has devastated forests, displaced forest dwellers, and resulted in the expansion of the "bushmeat" trade. Since the 1980s, Africa has had the highest deforestation rates of any region on the globe.

38. Interactive climate map http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/interactive_climate_map/climate_map.html

39. In your pairs…. • Use the information in your pack to produce a fact file about your biome • Draw out and annotate a climate graph- annotations including- describing rainfall and temperature patterns, highest and lowest temps and precipitation amounts- also temperature range • Draw an arrow to link your climate graph to the world location map • Give reasons for the climate of your biome- e.g. latitude, albedo, altitude, prevailing wind, ocean currents, Continentality • Brief overview of your biome, plants, animals, humans, structure etc Temperature range= difference between the highest and lowest temperatures in a biome

40. Choose From…. • Barrow Alaska Tundra • London England, Deciduous Forest • San Francisco, CA, USA- Chaparral • Dakar, Senegal, Savanna (trop grassland) • Tindouf, Algeria, Desert • Iquitos,Peru, Rainforest • Yakutz, Russia, Taiga (coniferous forest)

41. Latitude/Longitude = 71.2o N; 156o WAverage Annual Temperature (oC) = -12.7oAnnual Temperature Range (oC) = 32oTotal Annual Precipitation (mm) = 110Summer Precipitation (mm) = 74Winter Precipitation (mm) = 36 Controlling Factors Location in the high latitudes; Subsidence and divergence of the polar anticyclone (high pressure) Characteristics "Summer-less"; at least 9 months average below freezing. Low evaporation; precipitation usually below 10 in.

42. LocationBarrow Alaska General World location Arctic ocean border lands of North America; Greenland and Eurasia; Antarctic Peninsulas; some polar islands.

43. What we will do… • With your fact files a wall display will be made to show you the variations in world climates

44. http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/3235.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/3236.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/3235.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/3236.html • Give reason for the differences between Morecombe and Torremolinos