GEOG 2300 1st Edition Lecture 5Outline of Last Lecture I. SystemsII. FeedbacksA. PositiveB. NegativeIII. Time CyclesIV. Shape of the EarthV. Earth’s RotationOutline of Current Lecture I. Geographic GridII. Map ProjectionsIII. Earth’s RevolutionIV. Earth’s Tilt and SeasonsCurrent LectureI. Geographic GridA. Geographic Grid: a universal grid to identify locations on the Earth’s surfaceB. Parallels divide the Earth into crosswise rings C. Meridians divide the Earth from pole to pole D. Longitude is the angular distance east or west of the Prime Meridian; meridians connect lines of equal longitudeE. Latitude is the angle between a point on a parallel and the center of the Earthand a point on the equator; parallels are also known as lines of latitudesF. The sun is most direct at different latitudes throughout the yearG. On June 21 the sun is most direct at the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees N) and on December 21 the sun is most direct at the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 degrees S)H. Arctic circle is 66.5 degrees N and the Antarctic circle is 66.5 degrees SII. Map ProjectionsA. Cartography: science and art of making mapsB. Map projections are used to distort the curved surface of the Earth onto a flatmapC. There are many different map projections: Polar, Mercator, Goode, RobinsonThese 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.D. A scale fraction is used to distort size onto a smaller map; for example 1:50,000 means that 1 unit of distance represents 50,000 units in actualityIII. Earth’s RevolutionA. One revolution is the time it takes the Earth to circle around the sunB. Elliptical path, not circular; Earth orbits on the plane of the ecliptic and the sun is not in the middle of the eclipticC. This means that the Earth is closer to the sun than at other timesD. Perihelion: the Earth is closest to the sun on January 3E. Aphelion: the Earth is furthest from the sun on July 4F. But the variation in distance is only 3%IV. Earth’s Tilt and SeasonsA. The Earth is tilted 66.5 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic or 23.5 degrees from the perpendicularB. The Earth rotates from west to east once every 23 hours and 56 minutes (why wehave leap year every 4 years)C. Earth’s tilt causes the seasons; the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun from June-September with the maximum tilt on June 22 (summer solstice) and the southern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun from December-March with the maximum tilt on December 22 (winter solstice) D. Equinoxes are between solstices and occur when the sun’s noontime rays strike vertically at the equatorE. In the northern hemisphere the vernal (spring) equinox occurs on March 21 and the autumnal (fall) equinox occurs on September 23; there is 12 hours of day andnight on these
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