Climates on Earth

Climate and climate change

► Weather and climate
► Weather is the description of the conditions in the atmosphere
at a place over a short period of time, such as a day or a week.
► These conditions in the atmosphere include temperature,
rainfall, sunshine, wind speed and direction, and the amount
of cloud coverage.
► Climate is a description of conditions at a place over a much
longer period of time, such as 30 years or more.
► Climate can be thought as as the average weather conditions
in a large area of the planet, over a long period of time.
► The Earth’s climate
► The Earth’s climate is due to its atmosphere.
► The heat energy that is transferred to the Earth by the Sun warms the air
and causes winds.
► This heat energy also causes evaporation at the surfaces of the oceans,
seas and lakes, which raises water vapour in the air resulting in rainfall.
► The movements of the Earth also affect the atmosphere.
► As the Earth rotates, it causes the air to move as well. If seen from space,
clouds can be seen moving in swirls over the planet indicating that the
atmosphere is constantly changing.
► The orbit of the Earth around the Sun causes the Earth to sometimes tilt
towards the Sun and sometimes away from the Sun, causing different
amounts of heat energy to reach different places.
► This also causes movements of the air.
► The Earth’s climate is called the
global climate.
► Scientists use many different
measurements to investigate and
monitor the Earth’s climate.
► Scientists use the data collected
and apply it to a world map.
► The map alongside shows
different temperature changes in
all the regions of the world,
whereas the map on the next
slide is known as the Koppen
climate classification map which
shows the different climates
around the world.
► Climates of the world
► 1. Tropical wet (rainforest) climate: hot and humid with daily rainfall
► 2. Tropical wet and dry (savannah): a warm climate with two main
seasons – wet(with heavy rainfall) and dry(no rainfall)
► 3. Arid (desert): very long period of time with little or no rainfall. These
areas can be very hot or cold.
► 4. Semi-arid (steppe) – warm/hot summers and cold/very cold winters,
with slightly more rainfall than arid climate.
► 5. Mediterranean: dry summers which may be warm/hot and cooler
winters with some rainfall.
► 6. Humid subtropical: hot, humid summers with warm or cool winters.
Monsoon climate is one type of this climate, with a long period of very
heavy rainfall.
► Climates of the world (cont.)
► 7. Marine (marine west coast): warm summers and cool winters with
frequent changes in weather and rainfall periods throughout the year.
Land with is climate is affected by the air that blows in from the
surrounding sea.
► 8. Humid continental: four very clear seasons – very cold winters;
warm, wet spring times; warm, humid summers and cool, dry autumns
(fall seasons).
► 9. Subarctic (taiga): very cold winters, up to six months long with short,
warm/hot summers with rain.
► 10. Tundra: very cold winters with snow, cool summers with rain.
► 11. Highlands (mountain): cold all year with weather that changes
quickly and features wind, rain and snow.
► 12. Ice cap: Here no mean monthly temperature exceeds 0°C. some
regions have vast deserts of snow and a permanent layer of ice, with no
vegetation.
► Climate change in the past
► Scientists have discovered that the Earth’s climate has undergone
many changes in the past.
► These changes follow a pattern which can be described as a cycle of
warm and cold periods.
► The cold periods are known as ice ages, and these can be further
divided into glacial and interglacial periods.
► We are currently living in an interglacial period, thus we are living
in an ice age. An interglacial period is a warmer period within an ice
age.
► The evidence for the cycles of climate change are provided by the
study of sedimentary rocks, fossils, pollen grains and ice cores.
► Sedimentary rocks
► Sedimentary rock is formed by
erosion that occurred over a very
long period of time.
► Scientists study layers in
sedimentary rocks to understand
what the climate was like when the
erosion took place.
► The different sizes of the eroded
rock fragments in different layers
can indicate a change in sea level.
► A large amount of iron oxide present
in sedimentary rock can indicate
that the climate was very hot when
the rock layer formed.
► Fossils
► The fossilised remains of plants
and animals can tell us when
the climate that they lived in
changed, causing then to
become extinct.
► Coral is a good example of this,
as these creature are very
sensitive to changes in
temperature.
► When the climate changes from
warm to cool, some coral
become extinct, and their fossil
records help to pinpoint these
changes.
► Pollen grains
► Fossilised pollen grains indicate the types of plants that were
alive in different eras.
► This, in turn, indicates the type of climate in which the plants
lived.
► Ice cores
► Ice cores are made by
drilling into an ice cap or
glacier and drawing out a
long piece of ice.
► Scientists may find pollen
grains, dust from dust
storms or volcanic ash,
each of which indicate the
type of climate in which
these regularly occur.
► The Earth’s atmosphere
► In the beginning, the Earth’s atmosphere
was probably composed mainly of hydrogen
and helium.
► Later, volcanic eruptions threw out large
amounts of carbon dioxide, ammonia and
methane.
► When the first plants developed about 3
billion years ago, they released oxygen
which reacted with ammonia to produce
nitrogen; giving us the composition of air as
we know it today.
► However, burning of fossil fuels and waste
from industry and livestock cause air
pollution and contribute to climate change.
► Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, both
of which are produced when fossil fuels
burn combine with water vapour in the
atmosphere to form acid rain
► The Water cycle
► A major gas
escaping from early
volcanoes was
water vapour
which, in time
condensed to form
the oceans.
► In modern times,
oceans and other
large bodies of
water take part in
the water cycle.
► Evaporation: occurs from the
surface of water. Water changes
from a liquid into water vapour
due to heat energy.
► Condensation: is the changing of TYPES OF PRECIPITATION
water vapour back into liquid
water. This occurs when the air
cools down and is no longer able
to hold the water in it as gas.
Water then comes down as
precipitation.
► Clouds: are made up of water
droplets that scatter sunlight in
all directions making them appear
white.
► Precipitation: is the result of
condensation, either in the clouds
or on the ground.
► Precipitation collects on the
ground as:
► 1) Open source water – e.g. rivers
and lakes
► 2) Ground-water – this is water
that soaks into the ground by a
process called infiltration.
Ground-water is held in the ground
between soil particles or cracks in
the rocks.
► Infiltration involves the passing of
water through soil, gravel and
porous rock until it reaches
non-porous rock, where it collects
and can be reached by sinking a
well.
► The whole structure through which
the water filters is called an
aquifer.
► Global warming is also
known as “climate
change” and is a result
of the greenhouse
effect
► Greenhouse gases, such
as carbon dioxide and
methane, absorb heat
energy and stop heat
from escaping into
space. This excessive
trapping of heat is
known as the
“greenhouse effect”.
► The future impact of climate change
► Climate change refers to more than an increase in temperature.
► The five main impacts of climate change are: more frequent and
intense droughts, storms (cyclones and hurricanes), heat waves,
rising sea levels which causes flooding, melting glaciers and
warming oceans
► Drought can harm food production and human health.
► Human health issues can increase mortality, impact food
availability, and limit worker productivity.
► Flooding can lead to disease spread and damages to ecosystems
and infrastructure.