GEOG 1112 1ST Edition Lecture 1 Outline of Current Lecture I. Geography A. Definition of geography: (“geo”= Earth; “graphein”=to write) is the study of spatial patterns and relationships. II. Weather and Climate III. The Koppen Climate Classification System IV. Forecasting Weather Versus Climate Current LectureI. Geography Imagine the challenge society as a whole and we in physical geography face to understand how Earth’s systems operate and then to forecast changes in these systems to determine what futureenvironments we may expect. Geography is the science that studies the relationships among natural systems, geographic areas, society, and cultural activities and the interdependence of allof these over space. Spatial refers to the nature and character of physical space, its measurement, and the distribution of things within it. Five spatial themes: location, region, human earth relationships, movement, and place. Spacial analysis is used in geography synthesizes certain topics from many fields, integrating information to form a whole-Earth concept. Physical geography is the spatial analysis of all the physical elements and process systems that make up the environment: energy, air, water, weather, climate, landforms, soils, animals, plants, microorganisms, and Earth itself. •Human- Earth Relationships includes the spacial analysis of settlement patterns, resource utilization and exploitation, hazard perception and planning, and the impact of environmental modification and artificial landscape creation. •Location identifies a specific address or absolute (grid coordinates) and relative (in relation to another location) position on Earth.These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.•Movement involves migration, communication, and the interaction of people and processes across space. •Place is a focused on the tangible and intangible characteristics that make each location unique; no two places on Earth are alike. •Region that is focused on areas that display unity and internal homogeneity of traits;includes the study of how a region forms over time, evolves, and interrelates.II. Weather and Climate The short term condition of the atmosphere which is delegated by temperature, air pressure, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, daylight, and sun angle thus is called weather. It’s just a snapshot of the atmospheric condition in that specific area. In contrast, climate is the longterm average (30 - 50 years) of weather conditions and extremes in that region. Weather can bepredicted for 7 -10 days in advance, marks fluctuations, and highly variable from year to year. In later lectures, you will learn how weather relates to meteorology. •Describing the climate of a region to stranger, you must base your answer off of the temperature, precipitation, winds, sunshine, and other things of interest. The main governing factors over climate are latitude, elevation, prevailing winds, topographic barriers, ocean currents, proximity to the ocean (or a large lake), and also insolation. Two of the factors, one is elevation that is the distance above sea level, elevation influences climate as well as the people who live there. For example, active tundra conditions on the hilly mountain summits, as compared to boreal forest along Lake Melville. The other factor is latitude which means the angular distance measured north and south of the equator from a point at the center of Earth. A line connecting all points of the same latitudinal angle is a parallel. Thus, temperatures decrease northward (linked to solar insolation)(length of day,solar angle). Solar radiation that reaches a horizontal plane at Earth is insolation, derived from the words incoming solar radiation. Insolation specifically applies to radiation arriving at Earth’s atmosphere and surface. Insolation at the top of the atmosphere is expressed as the solar constant. Prevailing winds are the winds which blow more often from one direction than another. Winds can greatly affect the amount of precipitation an area receives depending on the amount of moisture they are carrying. These prevailing winds can move air masses from the ocean onto a continent bringing moisture onto the continent. Or prevailing winds may move air masses froma continent to a ocean, moving drier air from the continent. Prevailing winds affect the climate of an area. The topography, or features of the land also influences the climate. The amount of precipitationin a region is affected by mountain ranges in that area. Mountains cause air to rise. Rising air becomes less dense allowing the condensation of water. In the ocean, the water travels a path called currents. Currents can either be warm or cold. The temperature of the water affects the temperature of the above it. If the water is cold, it cools the air above it. If it is warm, it heats up the air above it. Ocean currents traveling away from he equator are warm, warming the air which moves onto the land near these areas.Currents flowing near the equator are colder masses, moving over these currents, are cooled. These cooled air masses then flow over the regions in their path. The ocean covers more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. The ocean plays a major role in regulating the weather and climate of the plane. The proximity of the ocean to land influences the topography in that area over time. During the summer, the ocean reduces the very high temperatures on the land and in turn increases the winter temperature, although sea ice cover limits influence. III. The Köppen Climate Classification System The Köppen climate classification system was designed by Wladimir Köppen (1846-1940), a German climatologist and botanist, and is widely used for its ease of comprehension. The basis of any empirical classification system is the choice of criteria used to draw lines on a map to designate different climates. Köppen-Geiger climate classification uses average monthly temperatures, average monthly precipitation, and total annual precipitation to devise its spatial categories and boundaries. Boundaries are transition zones of gradual change.The Köppen system has six classifications on the land and there is a map showing the spatial pattern of climate. The Köppen system uses capital letters( A,B, C, D, E, H) to designate climatic categories