Climate
What is a biome?
A biome is an area of land that contains a distinct community of plants and animals.
How do continents affect the movement of currents?
Continents alter the direction ocean currents are traveling. When a current runs into a continent, the water is deflected.
What is the atmosphere?
The atmosphere is the layer of gases that surrounds the Earth.
Fill in the blank: When the Earth rotates, the object at the equator will travel _________ and ________ than an object at the poles in the same amount of time.
Finish the sentence: "The saltier the water...
the more dense it is
the deeper it will sink
What is topography?
The landforms and features of a location, such as its mountains and rivers.
What two factors drive surface ocean currents?
winds and convection
Why is the atmosphere important? (3 answers)
It contains the air we breathe, keeps us warm, and protects us from radiation from the Sun.
How does the Coriolis effect alter wind patterns and ocean currents circulating between the equator and poles?
In the Northern Hemisphere, wind and ocean currents are deflected to the right, and in the Southern Hemisphere they are deflected to the left.
How often does El Niño occur?
El Niño only happens at regular intervals, every three to seven years.
Fill in the Blank: Coastal regions have _________ extreme temperatures than inland areas: summers are _________ and winters are _________ on the coast.
less, cooler, warmer
Why do you think the ocean is different temperatures in different places?
The ocean gets more energy from the Sun in some places than others.
Where does all of our weather happen?
All of our weather circulates in the troposphere.
The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere and surrounds the Earth.
Fill in the blank: Air will _________ at the equator and _______ at the poles.
Rise, fall
What are deep ocean currents caused by?
They are caused by differences in water density.
What effect does rain forest vegetation have on cloud cover in the rain forest?
Moisture is released from vegetation into the atmosphere, through transpiration. This leads to cloud formation and rain/precipitation.
Does all the water in the oceans have the same saltiness?
No, salty water will sink and there will be more salt in the water near the bottom of the ocean.
Describe what drives atmospheric convection currents.
The Sun heats gases in the atmosphere, causing them to rise. As the gases begin to cool, they move back down toward the Earth.
What are prevailing winds?
Patterns of wind across the planet that are pretty consistent and predictable.
What 4 inputs determine the temperature of the Earth’s oceans?
The Sun, how deep the water is, latitude, proximity to land