Physical Geography Final Exam Study Guide Climate Classification o The Koppen classification system Takes 3 variables into account Temperature Precipitation Distinct vegetation 6 Principal climate groups and relation to solar radiation patterns Zone A Humid tropical Example Jungle very wet and humid wettest zone found around the equator and close to the ITCZ These areas are warm year round with a mean temp of above 18 C Zone B Dry arid EX Desert The driest of the zones Subtropical highs produce high pressure persistent stability and air that is close to the ground in this zone This zone is separated in to deserts and steppes where the main difference between then is precipitation Deserts are arid with the precipitation less than half of potential evapotranspiration and steppes are semi arid with more than half Zone C Humid mesothermal middle latitude with mild winters EX Mediterranean or Florida winters are short and mild and summers are hot and long Zone D Humid microthermal middle latitude with severe winters EX New England Continentally is the key word remote from oceans and land masses are broader here more than anywhere else This group is divided into humid continental and subarctic Humid continental has warm summers and cold winters with 1 to 5 months below freezing Subarctic where winters are long dark and very cold with 6 to 7 months with the average temp below freezing 36 F is average here and summers are in the 50s and 60s Zone E Polar EX Antarctica areas of everlasting cold and dry Separated into tundra and ice cap where the only difference is is that the tundra has at least one moth where the average temp is above freezing where as in the ice cap all months are below freezing Zone H Highland EX Mountain range altitude is more important than latitude 6 Cell circulation patterns six wind belts along with 7 pressure zones Climographs a graph showing average monthly temperatures and precipitation for specific locations with a line graph for temperature and a bar graph for precipitation The climate directly influences the distribution of earth s major terrestrial ecosystems or biomes Temperature and precipitation directly affect vegetation Where zone A has most vegetation and decreases to zone H Climate Change o Recent climate changes are due to an increase on CO2 emissions The causes are variations in earth orbit changes in oceanic circulation and changes in distribution of landmasses impact events meteoroids and changes in the atmosphere gases o The impacts of climate change are increases in global average air and ocean temperatures rising average sea level and widespread melting of snow and ice This could result in more frequent hurricanes with a higher intensity large scale cyclonic storms and an increase of heat waves droughts and floods o Humans contribute to global warming by increasing greenhouse gases through common sources Contributing about 40 to the greenhouse effect Carbon Dioxide Burning fossil fuels Deforestation Methane Agriculture Natural gas Landfill decomposition Artificial fertilizers Burning of fossil fuel Nitrous oxide o Paleoclimatology is the study of past climates It teaches us earths past changes in the climate and what was causing those changes Some ways that past climates can be examined are through Tree rings indicate tree age and ring widths indicate growth spurts due to warmer temperatures Trapped pollen in ice Glacial ice cores ancient gases are trapped in bubbles in Antarctic ice Some cases have been stored for 1000 s of years and it enables us to measure levels of greenhouse gases in ancient atmospheres Ocean sediment cores Geology o Climate models reproduce many of the features of the real climate like global patterns of temp and rainfall seasonal retreat of ice caps and north Atlantic Gulf Stream patterns These are not explicitly built into the model they emerge from physics The three sources of uncertainty in climate projections are Uncertainty in future greenhouse gas levels scenario uncertainty Uncertainty in the formulation of the climate models model uncertainty Intrinsic uncertainty in our understanding of the climate system internal variability o The IPCC states that Most of the observed increase in global average temperature since the mid 20th century is very likely 90 probability due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse has concentrations about the causes of climate change o The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 from 2008 to 2012 This treaty was harder to follow because greenhouse gas emissions have raised globally The entire global economy is dependent on fossil fuels and it is a global citizenship rather than on of individual countries Biogeography o It is the study of how environmental factors affect the locations distributions and life processes of plants and animals o 4 Major components of an ecosystem water and atmosphere Non living abiotic parts life supporting elements and compounds such as soil Basic producers autotrophs plants bacteria and sulfur dependent organisms Consumers heterotrophs eat plants or other animals Herbivores carnivores and Decomposers detrivores feed on dead or decaying material omnivores o Major soil components Inorganic materials Rock fragments not readily dissolved in water Chemical constituents weathering of rocks Helps with soil fertilization Soil water Precipitation Dissolves soluble minerals and carries them to deeper levels of the soil Impure contains dissolved nutrients Soil air Nearly 50 of a soil consists of open spaces Organic matter humus Increases capacity for water retention Decayed plant and animal materials Supplies nutrients and minerals A food source for microorganisms Plate Tectonics o Earths 3 main layers Core in innermost section About one third of earths mass Composition iron and nickel Under extreme pressure Sections o Inner core solid and cery high density o Outer core molten rock matter and high density Mantle Crust About 2 thirds of earths mass and the largest interior zone Composition solid rock material silicate iron and magnesium Less dense than the core Only 1 of earths mass Consists of the ocean floor and all continents Density significantly less dense than core and mantel o Rock types Igneous rocks Molten rock from lava Cooled down lava Sedimentary Accumulated sediment rock Usually at or near the surface Metamorphic Created under intense heat and pressure Usually deep below