Which photo is about weather? Which is about climate?

WEATHER: conditions of temperature, air pressure, cloud cover, precipitation, humidity, etc that occur at a particular place at a particular time.

Which comment refers to Weather? Climate?

I can’t believe it’s snowing on May 11^th!

weather

My grandma says never to plant the garden til the May long weekend.

climate

Don’t put your tomatoes in the garden yet as we often get frost this time of year.

climate

A tornado hit the golf course yesterday.

weather

Southern Alberta – Summer of 2005

• Weather and Climate result from interactions between the different parts of our biosphere.

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• So….what is the biosphere?

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BIOSPHERE: a relatively thin layer of Earth that have conditions suitable for supporting life.

It is made up of three interacting parts: hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere.

It includes all the living things on earth and the physical environment that supports them.

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• Weather and climate result from interactions between the different parts of our biosphere.

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BIOSPHERE: a relatively thin layer of Earth that have conditions suitable for supporting life. It is made up of three parts.

ATMOSPHERE: air

HYDROSPHERE: water

LITHOSPHERE: earth

ENERGY FROM THE SUN

The Atmosphere

• A layer of gases that surround the earth.
• The gases extend about 500 km from the surface of Earth
• Nitrogen (78%)
• Oxygen (21%)
• Water vapour (part of the hydrosphere)
• Atmospheric Dust (soot, pollen, micro-organisms)

The Atmosphere

Nitrogen - required for plant growth.

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Oxygen - life would not exist without oxygen.

- maintained through the process of photosynthesis.

- also used in chemical reactions such as burning.

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Mitochondrion need oxygen for cellular respiration to make ATP for the cell’s growth and movement

The � Atmosphere

Troposphere (0 - 10 km from the Earth’s Surface)

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• Average temp 15 ̊ C (decreases with increasing distance from the surface of the Earth).
• Contains about 80% of the atmospheric gases.
• Nearly all life contained in this layer.
• Contains almost all atmospheric dust.

Layers of the Atmosphere:

Temperature decreases

Layers of the Atmosphere:

Stratosphere (10 to 50 km from the Earth’s Surface)

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• Temp increases as you go up in this layer, - 60 ̊ at the lowest & 0 ̊ at the top.
• Scientists have found clumps of cells but no other life.
• Contains most of the ozone gas.
• The ozone gas forms an ozone layer absorbs a large amount of energy from the sun’s rays (this causes the temp. increase).

Mesosphere

- Temp decreases from 0^oC (bottom) to -100^oC (top).

Layers of the Atmosphere:

Thermosphere

- Gets really hot (up to 1500^oC).

- Auroras (caused by earth’s magnetic field).

Auroras are caused by charges ejected by the sun. Thankfully, these particles are deflected by the Earth’s magnetic field.

These particles accumulate at the poles where they excite air molecules to produce beautiful streams of plasma called “auroras”.

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The � Atmosphere

Lithosphere: �Includes the crust and the uppermost mantle, which constitute the hard and rigid outer layer of the Earth.�Floats on the semi-solid molten mantle.�Life exists several km below earth’s surface.�Extends 100 km below earth’s surface.

The Lithosphere

The Lithosphere

Hydrosphere: all the water on earth in all three forms, liquid, solid, and vapor.

• 97%salt water, 3% fresh water (mostly ice: glaciers, polar ice caps).
• Amount of water on Earth is constant.
• Warmed by solar radiation and a bit by mantle’s molten warmth.
• EG: Includes glaciers, rivers, lakes

The Hydrosphere

The Hydrosphere

No water is ever lost or destroyed. The amount of water on Earth always remains the same.

Organisms are Adapted to Deal with Climate

• Describe the climate that goes with each adaptation:

Dry: fat leaves prevent water loss

Wet: air filled bladders for floatation

Cold: Tiny ears prevent heat loss

Hot: large, thin ears maximize heat loss

Altitude and Temperature

• Altitude is the distance above Earth’s surface, measured from sea level (surface of the oceans).
• In the troposphere, temperature decreases with altitude. (It’s cold in them there hills)
• This is one reason for the upper limit of plant growth on mountains and the formation of glaciers at high altitudes.

FYI

• Altitude in Edmonton: 668 m above sea level

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• Altitude in Calgary: 1049 m above sea level

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• 33 countries have land below sea level

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• Louisiana’s average elevation is only 35 m above sea level, erego the levy

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• Holland has built huge earth birms along the coast in west and north where most of the land is BELOW sea level

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