GEOG 203 Planet Earth FINAL EXAM REVIEW The black font is the review that we were given in class whereas the blue and purple writing are my answers based off of the lecture Please use this as a basis for your studying but still refer to the other packet textbook or slides on e campus if you are confused or need any further study materials Feel free to email me if there are any questions about this review or the class in general at jbrianna1995 tamu edu Some helpful information and friendly reminders The exam is on Monday May 11 2015 from 10 30 12 10 There are 50 questions Bring the big gray blue scantron and pencils Final grades will be posted on May 11 Exam 3 has the following breakdown Ch 10 11 12 10 questions each Ch 13 and 14 9 questions each Guest lecture 2 questions GIG EM AND BEAT THE HELL OUT OF FINALS CHAPTER 10 GLOBAL CLIMATE SYSTEMS 1 Climate weather and their differences Weather short term conditions of the atmosphere including but not limited to temperature humidity precipitation pressure wind and cloud cover Climate long term average of weather events mostly looks at temperature and precipitation averages helps to determine global distributions of ecosystems and biomes 2 Climate components What are they Insolation incoming solar radiation and latitude Earth energy balance poles and equator see below Temperature gradient Pressure gradient Air masses Precipitation What are their geographic distributions What controls these components and how Insolation and latitude are dependent on seasonal variation meaning that their global distributions are dependent on where it is summer EXAMPLE Equatorial region is wet because convergence of winds lots of convectional heating and ample moisture see precipitation energy and pressure air masses below Think about how all of these things connect to determine the climate of one region Earths energy balance is really an imbalance there is a deficit at the poles due to high albedo reflectivity and a surplus at the equator think heat more energy more heat Temperature location on the globe is dependent on latitude higher latitude lower temperatures altitude higher altitude lower temperatures cloud cover affects amount of insolation and whether terrain is dominated by land or water Pressure dependent on the creation of wind cells see HADLEY CELL notes Air masses i e Pressure systems and common atmospheric conditions within a certain area Precipitation dependent on the lifting of air masses can be convergent convectional orographic and frontal but this means that they are unevenly distributed across the globe 3 Climate classification Genetic and empirical classification Genetic classification be similar Empirical Classification K ppen climate classification Used globally 5 climate regions and their subcategories based in causative factors what causes the systems to based on data interpretation A TROPICAL rainforest monsoon savannah B MESOTHERMAL humid subtropical Mediterranean dry summer marine west coast C MICROTHERMAL hot humid continental warm humid continental subarctic cool summers subarctic very cold winters tundra ice cap ice sheet E DESERT tropical subtropical desert cold midlatitude deserts hot low latitude steppe cool midlatitude deserts D POLAR HIGHLAND Geographic distributions http en wikipedia org wiki K C3 B6ppen climate classification These are the geographic distributions of the Koppen Climate Systems I found this online on Wikipedia and included the link above originally published by the University of Melbourne I believe this is the exact one that was on the PowerPoint in class Please look at this and find the general similarities across latitudes Characteristics of Climate Systems Tropical rainforest moist and warm Tropical monsoon moist and warm with a distinct dry season Tropical savannah warm with distinct wet and dry seasons lasting approximately 6 months each Humid subtropical summer hot winter dry moist all year round Marine west coast mild winter cool summer Med Dry summer wet winter dry summer explained by subtropical highs and cold ocean currents Hot humid continental very hot summer moderate winters moist year round because of convection in the summer and mid latitude cyclone system in the winter EXAMPLES MIDWESTA ND NORTHEAST USA Warm humid continental summer is maritime tropical midlatitude and winter is continental polar EXAMPLE MOSCOW RUSSIA Subarctic Climates cool summer and very cold winter huge temperature seasonality year round LOW moisture EXAMPLES COOL SUMMER ALASKA AND CANADA VERY COLD WINTER EASTERN RUSSIA SIBERIA Tundra high latitudes high elevation no true summer even during 25 hr days too cold for trees AKA frozen deserts Ice cap and Ice sheets see the explanations above EXAMPLE INTERIOR GREENLAND ANARCTICA These are the most extensive climate regions always moisture deficit caused by subtropical highs rain shadow effects ocean currents distance to water Tropical subtropical desert hot low latitudes mean annual T greater than 18 C almost no precipitation Cold Midlatitude Deserts same as above but with a mean annual T of less than 18 C Hot Low latitude steppe found in tropics and subtropics surround deserts Cool midlatitude deserts found in midlatitude region warm in summer cool in winter CHAPTER 11 CLIMATE CHANGE 1 What is the climate change science Climate change science study of the causes and consequences of changing climate for all earth systems and the sustainability of human societies 2 Three Key Elements Past climate AKA paleoclimatology proxy indicators to show what we infer about old climate uses ice cores sediments corals fossils etc long term lake sediments Coral reefs Ocean sediments looks at O isotopes in CaCO3 Continental coastline sediments Ice Cores atmo Composition COLD CLIMATE Oxygen 16 is trapped in glacial ice oxygen 18 is abundant in the water WARM CLIMATE the ratio between oxygen 16 18 is balanced glacial ice melts puts Oxygen 16 back in ocean Short Term tree rings Speleothems layering in cavern growth bands Corals DATED WITH CARBON 13 CARBON 12 RATIO Present Climate Changes in past climate over the past 17 million years the general trend is cooling know the evidence of present global warming air T up water vapor up sea ice area down rise in sea surface temp ocean heat content up sea level rise snow cover down glacial volumes down Top 13 warmest years have been in last 15 years natural causes variations in solar output orbital variations movement of continents atmosphere