How often does the orbital path of the Earth change its shape?
approximately 100,000 years
What does aphelion mean?
furthest distance away
Which season has more hours of daylight
summer
2 main climate factors that play a role in distribution of plants and animals in different biomes?
temperature and precipitation
What orbital parameter is responsible for the seasons?
Obliquity
When the obliquity is at its maximum what would happen to the seasons?
more extreme variations in seasons with increase in tilt.
Eccentricity is
how far from being a circle an orbit is
What will happen to the amount of sunlight received by Earth after the Summer Solstice?
It will start to decrease until the next solstice
To predict the distribution of biomes what directional parameter is the best to use?
Latitude
What orbital parameter is going to be felt in the next few months
Obliquity
When Earth's Eccentricity changes, what does that mean?
The shape of the orbital path will change
The amount of direct or diffuse energy the Earth receives from the sun.
Insolation
What does equinox mean?
Equal amounts (of daylight for this lesson)
What is a biome?
An area with similar climate and therefore organisms that inhabit it
When Earth is at its aphelion position is it tilted toward or away from the sun in the Northern Hemisphere?
Towards the sun
When the precession of the axis changes, so that Vega is the North star, what will happen to winter and summer?
Winter will become colder and Summer will become hotter
Perihelion
when an object is at its closest point in orbit
what orbital variation are glacial and interglacial periods closely associated with?
Eccentricity
What happens to biomes as you increase elevation?
They become colder biome types
when the suns rays are at a high angle overhead, it is what season?
Summer
All of the orbital variations effects on the climate together make up the ____________ cycles.
Milankovitch cycles
temperature and precipitation
Climate
What cause the obliquity, eccentricity, and precession of the Earth to change?
Gravitational pull of the planets, Moon and sun.
explain how the milankovitch cycles relate to biome locations.
Due to Earth's tilt there is more direct sunlight at the equator therefore making it warmer so the at biomes with warmer temperatures will be found closer to the equator and cooler ones at higher latitudes. The wobble of the axis can enhance the seasonal affect. The eccentricity can increase aphelion and perihelion distances- affecting the temperature.
Which hemisphere (Northern or Southern) has a hotter summer and why?
Southern because the Earth is at perihelion position when the southern hemisphere is having summer (the northern hemisphere is having winter)