Global Temperatures Temperature Concepts and Measurement Temperature The measure of the average kinetic energy of individual molecules in matter changes in temperature a result of the absorption grain or emission loss of heat energy WE feel effect of temperature through sensible heat transfer Temperature scales o Fahrenheit devised by German physicist Daniel Fahrenheit melting point of ice 32oF Average body temperature 98 6 Boiling point of water 212oF 180 subdivisions between melting point and boiling point US is only one of three countries still using Fahrenheit scale o Celsius devised by Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius Melting point of ice 0oC Average body temperature 37oC Boiling point of water 100OC o Kelvin devised by British physicist Lord Kelvin William Thompson Absolute zero total cessation of atomic an molecular movement in matter 0 K Melting point of water 273 K To convert degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit multiply Celsius value by 1 8 then add 32 One Celsius degree is equal to about 1 8 Fahrenheit degree Because the atmosphere is fluid we have to understand what happens at a global scale to understand what happens at a local scale because air moves and is redistributed The principle controls on temperature o Latitude all about the differences in radiation that hits the particular parts of the earth o Altitude normal lapse rate 6 4 oC This means that the higher you get in the atmosphere it cools off by about that much Nighttime cooling often tends to be greater higher in the atmosphere Not as much atmosphere up there to keep the heat in o Cloud Cover Tend to lower daytime temperatures and tend to increase nighttime temperatures When solar radiation hits a cloud part of it goes back into space so not all of the insolation hits the surface no net transfer of energy reflection This results in their being less energy that hits the ground Clouds increase the resonance time time the radiation is in earth s atmosphere so temperatures are raised o insOlation the radiation coming in InsUlation is the blanketed air o Land water differences Evaporation The change in phase of matter from liquid to gas If you go from liquid to a gas you re evaporating Water is easier to evaporate than land does 100oC is the temperature most water evaporates Transparency If radiation hits water it has the ability to penetrate through much more material than land Photic zone 60 m The farthest part in the ocean where light begins to fade Specific Heat The amount of energy that is necessary to raise the temperature of matter by one degree Different types of matter have very different types of specific heat Water requires a lot more energy to increase its temperature than does land because it has a higher specific heat so it holds more heat than land does Most of the planet is water so in an area dominated by the ocean the temperature will be different than that of one dominated by land with same cloud cover latitutde etc o Continentality an area dominated by land will have a different temperature than one dominated by water even at the same latitude etc o If you are in an area dominated by water there will be much smaller changes in temperature over the course of the seasons than that of land An area on the coast it takes in a lot of energy in the summer so the water is absorbing all the heat then it takes much longer for the water to release its energy so temperatures are much more even
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