CHAPTER15 OUR LIVING PLANET

1. CHAPTER15 OUR LIVING PLANET BY. Cody Crawford

2. 15-1 Climate Life • Climate- the temp. range, the average annual precipitation,humidity, and the amount of sunshine that a region typically experiences • Climate is a powerful factor in determining the types of living organisms that an area can support • Climate, such as temperature & rainfall, will allow populations to grow, remain stable, or vanish. • Temp. & rainfall can also affect the structure or food webs climate is the interaction or the sun’s energy with the Earth’s air, H2O, & land

3. Earth’s Thermostat • CO2 & H2O in the atmosphere allows solar energy to reach the Earth’s surface, where it is absorbed & later converted into heat • The earth’s atmosphere serves as a natural thermostat • These gases (CO2&H2O) keep the heat energy close to the Earth for a period of time this is called the GREEN HOUSE EFFECT.

4. Earth’s Climate Zone • Interactions between solar energy & the atmosphere are responsible for much more than the Earth’s temp. • Solar energy is responsible for global winds & ocean currents

5. Environments & Ecosystems • An environment is a combination of physical & biological factors that influence life • Physical factors(called abiotic factors)-climate, soil, and nutrients • Biological factors(biotic factors)- all of the living things with which an organism might interact.

6. Ecosystem • Ecosystem- is a collection of organisms,producers,consumers,& decomposers- interacting with each other and with their physical environment & an ecosystem is a combination of biotic and abiotic factors

7. Niche • Niche-a full range of physical & biological conditions in which the organisms in a species can live and the way in which the organisms use those conditions

8. Habitat • Habitat- the type of surroundings in which a species lives & thrives

9. 15-2 Environments & Life • The biotic & the abiotic factors of an environment continually interact with and affect each other • These interactions as well as their capacity to change ecosystems usually operate slowly, over a long time scale • Ecosystems respond to change by undergoing more changes

10. Change In Ecosystems • Most ecosystems seem stable but many ecosystems are constantly changing because organisms alter their surroundings • As an ecological system changes, older inhabitants gradually die out & new plants & animals move in

11. Ecological Succession • Rakata island(Indonesia) was created by a violent volcanic eruption that destroyed the larger island or Krakatoa in 1883 • At first only mosses,fungi,& grasses were able to grow on the newly cooled lava rock • Over time, these organisms causes the rock to break down, producing a thin layer or soil • Some plants & eventually trees were able to grow in this soil; animals soon flew,swam,or drifted to the island; within 100 years, the island turned into a tropical rainforest

12. Ecological Succession • Ecological Succession- the process by which an existing ecosystem is gradually and progressively reproduced by another ecosystem • Humans can cause Ecological Succession EX)abandoned clear cut fields

13. Climax Community • The relatively stable collection of plants & animals that results when an ecosystem reaches such a state • EX)natural disasters(floods,fires,etc) can alter ecosystem causing ecological succession thus producing a climax community

14. 6 Terrestial Biomes Tundra Tropical rain forest Desert Grassland Temperate deciduous forest Taiga 4 Aquatic Biomes Open water Fresh water Estuaries(river joins the sea) Rocky inter tidal 3% of all H2O on Earth is fresh, 98% is frozen 15-3 Earth’s Biomes

15. Climate: A Complete story • Global climate patterns are causes by the actions of winds and oceans currents • Winds & ocean currents are in turn powered by solar energy

16. Winds • Since the Earth’s surface is curved, different parts of the surface receive different amounts of solar energy • Near the equator, solar energy is more concentrated than it is in the north/south poles • A result is that the surface of the Earth is warmer at the equator tat at the poles • Warm air rises,cool air sinks there are three large circuit of rising/falling air on each side of the equator.

17. Winds Continued • As the Earth rotates on its axis, the air flows move east or west • The surface air flows are called trade winds

18. Ocean Currents • Oceans experience more solar heating at the equator • Warmer H2O at the ocean surface moves from the equator toward the cooler H2O at the pole • Cold H2O near the poles sink to the bottom & travel towards the equator • Again, the Earth’s climate is caused by the interaction or air & H2O currents w/ the earths land masses • As warm air moves over warm H2O, it picks up moisture in the form of H2O vapor

19. Ocean Currents Continued • If the warm,moisture air rises & later cools, the H2O vapor condenses& falls to Earth

20. The Climate Controversy • The enhanced greenhouse effect-refers to the fact that human activities are adding green house gases to the atmosphere; CO2 & gases are being added to the atmosphere causing the Earth to retain more heat

21. Global Warming • When the enhanced greenhouse effect issued to predict rise in Earth’s average temperature, the prediction is called global warming :1degree-2 degrees Celsius increase bye 2050 • Climate change includes any significant change in patterns of temp. • Rainfall,humidity,storm activity,&cloud formation that occurs in any part of the world • Temp. is only one factor affecting climate

22. Possible Effects Of Global Warming • Melting of polar ice caps • Rising sea levels • Flooding • Influence air/H2O flows • Decline of zoo plankton (tiny marine organism that are part of marine food chains)