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Chapter 1: Geography: Physical to Human Geography continuum Environmental Systems:

Chapter 1: Geography: Physical to Human Geography continuum Environmental Systems: 1) components: stocks, flows, relationship, parameters 2) positive/negative feedbacks: 3) open and closed systems 4) tipping point Geographers perspective of the world:

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Chapter 1: Geography: Physical to Human Geography continuum Environmental Systems:

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  1. Chapter 1: Geography: Physical to Human Geography continuum Environmental Systems: 1) components: stocks, flows, relationship, parameters 2) positive/negative feedbacks: 3) open and closed systems 4) tipping point Geographers perspective of the world: 1) location matters 2) real world relationships 3) horizontal connections 4) importance of scale (spatial/temporal)

  2. Chapter 1 (cont’d): Maps, scales, projections, geographic information, Geographic Information Systems Time: local time, GMT (prime meridian), EST,

  3. Chapter 2: Solar Energy Three radiation laws: (1) Planck’s law: black body emittance at a particular wavelength and given temperature. (2) Stefan-Boltzmann’s law: the total amount of energy a black body emits at all wavelength at a given temperature. E=σT4, where σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann’s constant. (3) Wien’s law: the wavelength at which a black body emit the most energy at a given temperature λmax=A/T, where A is a constant. Wavelength and energy: E=hc/ λ , the shorter the wavelength, the higher the amount of energy a photon possess. Radiowaves Microwaves Thermal ROYGBIV UV X-rays Gamma-rays How does the amount of solar radiation arriving Earth surface change with latitude, and why? Solar Constant: 1367 w/m2 Energy Units: energy: Joules (J); energy flux: Watts (J/s); flux density: w/m2 Sun Declination Angles: summer/winter solstice, spring/autumn equinoxes Latitude and daylength:

  4. Chapter 3: Atmosphere • Atmospheric Composition: N2 (78%), O2(21%), Ar (0.9%) • Atmospheric Structure according to temperature profile: • (1) troposphere, • (2) stratosphere, • (3) mesosphere • (4) Thermosphere • Normal lapse rate/environmental lapse rate, temperature inversion • Ozone hole and Montreal Protocol • Primary Greenhouse gases: CO2, CH4, NO2 • UNFCCC (1992), Kyoto Protocol (1997), Bali road map (2007) and Copenhagen Accord (2009) • UNFCCC is the foundation • Kyoto is the first and only treaty that has a mandatory reduction target • These treaties are not perfect, but an effective forum for international cooperation • Major dispute: Cap and Trade, Developing/Developed Countries responsibilities and aid for developing countries

  5. Chapter 4: Surface Energy Radiation Balance Equation: Rn=Q(1-α)-Lsurface+Latm Rn net radiation Q: total radiation from the sun α: albedo, percent radiation reflected back from surface: snow, forest, water Lsurface: surface longwave radiation Latm: atmosphere longwave radiation reaching the Earth surface Heat transfer: conductance (molecular), radiation, convection/advection (eddies). Daily radiation and temperature curves: radiation maximize at local noon time. air temperature minimum early morning at dawn, maximum early afternoon. Energy Balanc Equation: Rn= LE + H+G LE: latent heat H: sensible heat G: ground heat storage

  6. Chapter 5: Temperature Temperature Scales: Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin Principle temperature controlling factors: Latitude, altitude, cloud cover Temperature difference: land and water 1) evaporation 2) transparency 3) specific heat 4) movement (mixture) Temperature measurements (daily, monthly, annual) : mean temperature, maximum, minimum, temperature range, effective temperature, growing degree days. Sea Surface Temperature and El Nino Gulf Stream and its impacts on Northern European climate Temperature variation and latitudes: annual meam, annual max and min.

  7. Chapter 6: Air and Ocean circulation Air pressure, standard air pressure, partial pressure Driving forces for air movement: Gravity: air pressure Pressure gradient force Coriolis Force Friction Force Isobar: Isoline of constant air pressure: low/high pressure Air movement near ground and upper atmosphere: High/low pressure Three circulation cells: Hadley cell, Ferrel Cell, Polar Cell pressure belts and major pressure centers affects us: Aleutian Low Icelandic Low Pacific High (Hawaiian High in winter) Bermuder High (Azores High in winter) Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ） Jet Streams and Rosby Waves

  8. Chapter 7: Water in the Air Three phases of water and its change from one state to the other Vapor pressure (e), vapor pressure deficit (vpd), saturated vapor pressure (es), relative humidity (h): h=e/es; vpd=es-e; vpd=(1-h)es Specific humidity (gH2O/kg air): not a function of temperature or air pressure. Adiabatic rising/descending (adiabatic cooling/heating) Moist Adiabatic Rate: 6oC/1000m Dry Adiabatic Rate: 10oC/1000m Atmospheric stability: Unstable: env. lapse rate (ELR) > DAR Cond. Unstable: MAR< ELR< DAR Stable: ELR> DAR Daily Air Temperature and relative humidity

  9. Chapter 8: Weather Air mass: Air masses that influence the conterminerous US weather: winter: mP (2), mT(2), cP, cA Summer: mP(2), mT(2), cP, cT Four air lifting mechanisms: convergence (low pressure), convective (heating), orographic (mountain barrier), and fronts (cold, warm fronts) Midlatitude cyclone: Low pressure + two fronts (cold and warm) Tornados: horizontal rolling of air on the surface first, mesocyclone to pick up the horizontal rolling of the air. Hurricanes: warm SST (>26oC), rising atmosphere (tropical storm, ITCZ, westerly waves) northern hemisphere: spins counterclockwise

  10. Chapter 9: Water Resources Global water circulation: Ocean is the primary source of moisture for precipitation on land Water Balance Equation (Bucket Model): P=ET + R +ΔS How is water balance Eq. related to energy balance Eq.? ET: Evapotranspiration (evaporation + transpiration) R: Run-off ΔS: Soil water change Soil Water: porosity, field capacity, permanent wilting point Soil composition: soil particles (silt, sand, clay), water and air Potential ET vs. actual ET Confined and unconfined aquifer: Confined: bounded above and below with impermeable layers, thus high water pressure and easy to extract Unconfined: permeable layer on top and impermeable layers below, thus easily recharged from above, but need pump to draw water. Major problems with ground water resources: overdrawn and pollution (point and non-point sources)

  11. Chapter 10: Global Climate Climate and weather Factors controlling climate: Any factor that influences water and energy at a place Continental and maritime climate Major factors that determine climate: Precipitation and Temperature (water/energy) Climate classification: Tropical Mesothermal Microthermal Polar Highland Desert

  12. Chapter 11: Dynamic Planet Uniformitarianism: Geological time scale: eons, eras, period, epoch Half time and radioactive decay Earth Internal structure: Core (inner/outer), Mantle (lower, upper, asthnosphere, uppermost mantle) Crust (continental 2.7 g/cm3), oceanic (3.0 g/cm3) Three types of rocks: Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic Earth Crust composition: O (46.6%), Si (27.7%), Al (8.1%) , Iron (5.0%), Ca (3.6%) How magnetic reversal help understand ocean floor spreading? How radioactive dating help understand ocean floor spreading? Continental drift: tectonic plate movements and earth quake and volcanoes

  13. Chapter 19 Ecosystems Ecosystem: A self sustaining association of living plants, animals and microbes and their nonliving physical environment. Net photosynthesis (Gross Primary Production), Autotrophic respiration Net Primary Production and Biomass Global carbon cycle: sources: fossil fuel burning land use change (e.g. deforestation) ecosystem respiration sinks: plant photosynthesis on land phytoplankton photosynthesis/water absorption in ocean

  14. Chapter 19 (cont’d) Biodiversity definition: variability among living organisms from all sources (within species, between species and among ecosystems). Biodiversity: αβγ-diversities α-diversity: the number of species for a single ecosystem γ-diversities: the number of species over a region for all ecosystems. β-diversities: γ/α Benefit of biodiversity: ecosystem stability and higher productivity processes that threaten biodiversity: habitat loss, climate change, pollution Latitudinal/altitudinal patterns of species riches

  15. Chapter 20: Terrestrial Biomes Major terrestrial biomes: forest, savanna, glassland, desert, tundra Criteria used for biome classification: vegetation structure: life forms size and stratification cover periodicity leaf size and shape leaf texture flora: list of species

  16. Chapter 21 Human Denominator I=P*A*T ways to reduce environmental impacts for a country P: population A: resource use per person T: level of environmental impact per unit production Major human impacts on the environment: Land transformation: deforestation, agriculture expansion, urban sprawl Climate change Biodiversity loss

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