3/12/19

1

R E M I N D E R S

v Two required essays are due by April 9, 2019.

Ø  A third may be used for extra credit in place of a “Think Geographically” essay.

§  ESSAY TOPICS (choose any two): –  Contributions of a noted geographer,

earth scientist or explorer (chapter 1) –  Relationship of climate change to a

listed current event topic (ch. 2) –  Discuss a natural process that is

deemed a natural hazard (ch. 3)

v Extra Credit: “Think Geographically” Essays from any five of the text-book’s chapters 4-12. –  Last day to submit is

May 14 but it is best to do them as you finish reading a chapter.

Ø  Any essay may be handed in before the deadline.

Ø  Don’t wait for the night before to write them!!

GEOG 101 Part II People and their

Physical Environment

Prof. Anthony Grande Hunter College Geography

Lecture design, content and presentation ©AFG 0319 Individual images and illustrations may be subject to prior copyright.

PARTII:PeopleandtheirPhysicalEnvironment

ü  I. Introduction to the Physical Environment ü  II. Earth-Sun Relationship

III. Earth Systems ü  A. The Hydrosphere: Oceans Ø  B. The Atmosphere: Weather and Climate

C. The Lithosphere: Geologic Influences and Landscapes IV. Earth Habitat A. Biosphere B. Natural Controls and Cycles C. Human Impact D. Natural Hazards E. Earth Resources

3

CLIMATEDEFINED

v The average of all weather events at a particular location over a long period of time (50+ yrs).

ü Climates change naturally. ü Climates can be altered by people.

4

3/12/19

2

CLIMATEINFLUENCESv BOTHEarth-SunandEarthEnvironmentfactorsinfluenceclimatedevelopment.

-laItude -solarenergy-moisture -winddirecIon-topography -oceancondiIons

Ø Climatesinfluencealllifeonearthaswellashumanculturaldevelopment.§  soildevelopment,vegetaIon,biomes§  physicaladaptaIonsofanimals§  culturetraitsofpeople(clothing,architecture,cuisine,sports)§  developmentoftechnology(todealwithclimate)

5Two way street: People and their works influence climate, too!

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/01/sports/iditarod-climate-change-warming.html

STUDYINGCLIMATE

v  Climatemapsshowthegeographicdistrib-u@onofaverageddata.

v Climographsgiveusasnapshotofindividualloca@ons.

6

7

WORLDCLIMATEMAP

EFEF EF

ET

Cs Cs

BWh

Each colored climate region has a unique combination of temperature, precipitation and hours of sunlight.

CLIMATECLASSIFICATIONØ Fourtemperature-basedgroups:

§  Agroup:Tropical(winterless)§  Cgroup:Subtropical(mildwinter)§  Dgroup:Con@nental(severewinter)§  Egroup:Polar(summerless;extremelycold)

Ø Onemoisturedeficiency-basedgroup:BgroupAridandsemi-arid(evapotranspira@onexceedsprecipita@on)

Ø OneelevaIon-relatedgroup:HgroupHighlands(ver@calzona@onofclimatealongsteepslopes)

8

3/12/19

3

CLIMATEGROUPS

TABLE2.1intext>>Therearesixmajorcategoriesofclimate.4aretemperaturebased(A,C,D,Egroups)1ismoisturebased(Bgroup).1iselevaIonbased(Hgroup).Eachonehasanum-berofsubcategories.

9

A

B

C

D

E

H

WorldDistribuIonofClimate,SoilsandVegetaIon

10

VERY SIMILAR TO EACH OTHER!

VEGETATION

CLIMATES

SOILS

CLIMOGRAPHS

11

Each CLIMATE REGION has distinct TEMPERATURE patterns .

The lines dis-play the “aver-age monthly

temperature”.

The shape of lines shows monthly heat distribution.

Together we see when and

how much heat is received

during the year.

CLIMOGRAPHS

12

Each CLIMATE REGION has distinct PRECIPITATION patterns.

The height of the bars

indicates the amount of

precipitation received per

month.

The monthly distribution of

bars shows us when and how much

precipitation is received during the

year.

3/12/19

4

CLIMOGRAPHS

13

Each CLIMATE REGION has distinct patterns of TEMPERATURE and PRECIPITATION

Köppen Classification Symbols Key Af = Tropical rainy Aw = Tropical savanna Am = Tropical monsoon BSh = Tropical semi-arid BWh = Tropical desert Cfa = Humid subtropical Cs = Mediterranean dry summer Cfb = Marine west-coast BWk = Mid-latitude desert BSk = Mid-latitude semi-arid (steppe) Dfa = Humid continental hot summer Dd = Subarctic ET = Tundra EF = Icecap

14

CLIMOGRAPHSWhen temperature and precipitation patterns are com-bined we get a “snapshot” of that location’s climate.

Af Aw Am BSh BWh

Cfa Csa Cfb BWk BSk Dfa

Dd ET EF

https://www.usclimatedata.com/ : Climate info for US cities

ClimographsandLocatorMaps

15

ü  Lines show average monthly temperature range.

ü  Bars show average monthly precipitation.

A group

C group

ClimographsandLocatorMapsfromyourtextbook

B group

ClimographsandLocatorMapsfromyourtextbook

16

ü  Lines show average monthly temperature range.

ü  Bars show average monthly precipitation.

C group

D group E group

3/12/19

5

SevenNaturalClimateControls

1.   LaItude-solarenergyreceived,zonesofprecipi-ta@on.

2.   Landvs.water-differentratesofwarmingandcooling.

3.   Oceancurrents-temperatureanddirec@onofflow.

4.   WinddirecIon-global/regionwindsystems.

17

5.   Topographicbarriers-orienta@onandheight

6.   ElevaIon-lapserate;ver@calzona@on

7.   Airmasses-sourceregionandcharacteris@cs

An8thinfluence(unnatural)isthehumanimpact.

LaItude

18

There are parallel zones of temperature.

Solar energy received varies with latitude. It is most intense in the tropics and weakest in the polar regions.

TemperatureZones

LaItude

19

Zones of precipitation are parallel latitudinal (east-west) bands except for areas of tall north/south trending mountains.

Precipitation zones move north and south with the seasons (following the vertical rays of the sun).

Air rises and sinks around the cells creating zones of precipitation

ZonesofPrecipitaIon

Landvs.Water

Ø Land(con@nentalarea)heatsupandcoolsoffmorequicklythandoeswater(marinearea).

v Wateractstomoderateaclimate

20

3/12/19

6

21

Land (continental area - Yakutsk) heats up and cools off more quickly than does water (marine area - Reykjavik).

Landvs.Water

Located at the same latitude.

22

The temperature and direction of ocean currents influences the development of climate on land.

SurfaceOceanCirculaIon

WindDirecIon

23

The temperature and moisture of air is moved by wind systems, both vertically (see cells) and horizontally (arrows).

TopographicBarriers

24

The orientation and height of topographic barriers influences climate development.

ü Mountains and high plateaus block the flow of wind and moisture

ü Higher elevations trigger precipitation and create dry “rain shadows.”

Lower elevation north-south mountain chains have a greater effect on climate than higher elevation east-west mountain chains.

3/12/19

7

TopographicBarriers

25

DESERT Rainy side

Topographic barriers create desert areas

on their lee side.

Windward side Lee side

Precipitation Map

ElevaIon

26

TheelevaIonoflandaffectstemperature.ü Temperaturechangesby3½°Fper1000dofelevaIon(lapserate).Every5,000Zineleva@onisequalto750milesofla@tude.Thereforeitcansnowatthetopofhighmountainsinthetropics.

v ElevaIoncreatesVerIcalZonaIonofClimatealongtheslopesoflarge,highlandmasses.

VerIcalZonaIonofClimate

•  Temperaturechangesby3½°Fper1000dofelevaIon(lapserate).

•  Thegreatestnumberofzonesisfoundinthetropicsandonlyoneinthepolarregion.

27

Ø AsyouascendamountainclimatecharacterisIcsandvegetaIonchange.§  Thegreatestnumberofzonesisfoundinthetropics

§  Onlyonezoneinthepolarregion.

28

Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (Africa) Latitude 0° Elev. 19,340 ft.

E D C A

Denali, Alaska (N. America) Latitude 63°N; Elev. 20,320 ft.

EF ET

VerIcalZonaIonofClimate

3/12/19

8

AirMassesThesourceregionandtheannualcharacterisIcsoftemperatureandmoistureimpartuniquecondiIonstothelandmasses.

29

R E M I N D E R v Required essay topic using Chapter 2

can now be done. (Or it may be used for extra credit in place of a “Think Geographically” essay.)

Theme: Relationship of climate change to a listed current event topic.

ExtraCreditforExamII

ExtracreditatlasexerciseforEXAMIIfocusesonclimateandclimatecontrols.ItisavailableontheCourseHomePage.

SubmitanswersonblueScantronsheetnolaterthanFriday,March29,2019.Remembertobubble-inyournameonthebackofthesheet.EXAMII:SIllplannedforFriday,April5th.

31

RECAP:7CLIMATECONTROLS

1.   LaItude-solarenergyreceived,zonesofprecipita@on2.   Landvs.water-differentratesofwarmingandcooling3.   Oceancurrents-temperatureanddirec@onofflow4.   WinddirecIon-globalandregionwindsystems

5.   Topographicbarriers-orienta@onandheight6.   ElevaIon-lapserate;ver@calzona@on7.   Airmasses-sourceregionandcharacteris@cs

32

http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/616/631756/abcontrol/pages/question.html

3/12/19

9

ClimateChangeScenario1976-2100

33

http://koeppen-geiger.vu-wien.ac.at/ : Climate change animation 1976-2100

See end of chapter 2

Human-influencedClimateChange:SeaLevels

v WewilltalkabouthumanimpactinacoupleofweeksincludingtheGreenHouseEffectanditsrela@onshiptoglobalclimatechange.Herearetwoscenariosfocusingonawarmingearth.

Ø WhathappensiftheEarthWarms1°-2°C?h]ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GjrS8QbHmY(2.5min)

Ø WhatifalltheiceonEarthmelted:WhatwouldtheconInentslooklike?h]ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbiRNT_gWUQ(2.75min)

34

GlobalWarmingandSnowCoverintheAlps

35

End of 1800s

2100 worse case

scenario

2100 best case

scenario

End of 1900s

http://koeppen-geiger.vu-wien.ac.at/alps.htm

NEXT

The Lithosphere: Geologic Influences

36