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wind and tropics

Terms in this set (37)

electromagnetic spectrum
gamma ray, xray, UV, visible, IR, microwave, and radio
trends in the electromagnetic spectrum aka solar waves
from left to right the wavelegnths get longer the frequency gets shorter and the energy decreases
solar waves and our atmospere
-Atmosphere (thickness of saranwrap) protects us from gamma and xrays and reflects them
-Some UV, some visible, and some IR come through
-When light hits land, it reflects color and gives off IR which radiates heat... more of greenhouse gases, the more the IR can't dissipate and the heat can't leave the atmosphere
-Same thing as why your car gets hot during the summer
why we have seasons
planet is tilted towards the sun during spring and summer, tilted away during winter and fall (even though the planet is closest to the sun at this time)
density with air
-cold air is denser than warm air and sinks
-warm air is less dense than cold and rises
air and pressure
-air will also flow from high pressure areas to low pressure areas
high pressure systems means
colder air on top
cold front coming from the north
cold and dense by the poles
low pressure system
the air gets warmer by 60 degrees
pressure system of earth pattern
high,low, high, low, high, low, high
coriolis effect
causes water and air to curve as they travel across or above earth's surface
N hemisphere spin counterclockwise
S hemisphere spin clockwise
Planet spins faster near the equator than the poles: paper airplane thrown in Texas will land in Delaware (to the right) bc of this spinning; paper airplane thrown in the south will go to the left
N hemisphere spins
counterclockwise
S hemisphere spins
clockwise
Hurricanes
center is low pressure so the high pressure at the top is rushing towards the middle and is deflected making it spin
what causes wind patterns
coriolis effect and air pressures
easterly winds
Winds moving from east to west
originate from artic
westerly winds
global winds that blow from west to east in the temperate region
wind patterns
easterly and westerly
trade winds
trade winds
middle, caused by moist rising air
areas with little to no wind
intertropical convergence zone aka doldrums
horse latitudes
at equator
horse latitudes
N/S are at 30 degrees top and bottom, created by hadley cells
why do the tropics get so much rain though
tropics receive a great amount of direct solar energy, which produces more evaporation than higher lats
the warm, moist air rises, condenses into clouds and thunderstorms, and falls back to eart as precipitation
more evap = more precip
storms and global warming
With a warmer planet, there is more evaporation so there will be more storms. Storms are powered by heat so more heat - worse storms
hadley cell
low-latitude overturning circulations that have air rising at the equator and air sinking at roughly 30° latitude.
why does africa have that pattern
hadley cells
what causes the deserts east of CA
the rocky mountains- wind travels up the mountains then when it goes to the high pressure top it releases all its rain, continues down the mountain but no water left
engine for biodiversity
tropics
E.O. Wilson
found more ant species in one tree in peru than all of the british isles
tropics
In 0.5 kilometers by 0.5 kilometers you have more tree species in that area than all the ones in the temperate forests
latitude diversity gradient
Most diversity along the equator aka tropics
Ground beetles are the exception, get more diverse the further away from the tropics
what makes the tropics so biodiverse
1. size
2. time
3. stability
4. more direct sunlight
why does size matter
most maps are deceptive
The tropics constitute 40% of Earth's surface area and contain 36% of Earth's landmass
why does time matter
in the tropics, species that occurred there didnt have to flee or fear the ice so it gave the species more time to specialize in a niche and diversify
last iceage
11000 years ago
stablity
day length- 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of moonlight
seasonality- wet and dry
slows down extinction rates
speciation in the tropics
speciation is on "overdrive" in the tropics because stability gives species more security to adapt and have more generations to evolve faster
why does more direct sunlight matter
more energy and more primary productivity
this supports more individual lfie and abundance of species
this also slows down extinction rates (as does stability)
why does the study of biodiversity have a time limit
•Species are going extinct faster than we can discover and describe them.
We will never know what life on this planet actually has to offer
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