Transcript The Role of Solar Energy in Global Wind and Ocean Currents

The Role of Solar Energy in
Global Winds and Ocean Currents
Earth Surface Temperatures
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How does the sun’s energy relate to the
fuel we use?
Using figure 6.7, explain what happens
to solar energy that enters our
atmosphere. Give percents to support
your comments.
How does the solar energy that enters
our atmosphere affect us?
What is Albedo
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The ability to reflect solar energy is referred to
as albedo.
Rough textured, irregular, and dark-colored
materials have a low albedo, making them good
absorbers of solar radiation. Uniform and lightcolored materials such as snow, water at low
sun angles, and sandy soils have a higher
albedo and reflect more solar radiation, thus
absorbing less energy.
Which surfaces will have the
highest albedo values?
How does sun affect temperatures
at different latitudes?
Effect of axial tilt on
incoming
solar radiation
Sun angle determines
the intensity of
energy.
What Determines Seasons?
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nimations/animations/01_EarthSun_E2.ht
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The Atmosphere
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What are the two predominant gases that
make up 99% of our atmosphere?
What gases make up the remaining 1% of our
atmosphere?
Identify two ecologically important functions
the atmosphere performs for us.
Draw a diagram illustrating the layers of the
atmosphere
The Atmosphere
Layers of Earth’s Atmosphere
Name the Layers
Name the layer of the atmosphere
that matches each description:
• commercial jets fly here
• has the lowest temperatures in the
atmosphere
• weather occurs here
• extends to a height of about 10 km (6.2
miles)
• contains a layer of ozone to absorb ultraviolet
radiation
• aurora occurs here
Name the layer of the atmosphere
that matches each description:
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begins about 500 km (310 miles) above Earth
meteors occur here
satellites are found here and converges into
interplanetary space
extends for 10 to 45 km (28 miles) above
Earth’s surface
in these two layers, the temperature rises
steadily with increasing altitude
in these two layers, the temperature decrease
steadily with increasing altitude
Atmospheric Circulation
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What drives the circulation of the
atmosphere? Explain how it occurs.
What are winds?
What three factors affect air pressure?
Winds tend to blow from ____ air
pressure to _____ air pressure. What
causes stronger winds?
Wind currents
Coriolis effect
Global wind currents
The global pattern of wind currents can be shown by the three cell model of air
circulation. This shows:
polar easterlies
convection cells (formed due
westerlies
to differences in high and low
pressure)
deflected winds (due to the
Coriolis effect)
This forms three main wind patterns in
each hemisphere.
trade winds
westerlies
polar easterlies
Climate zones
Wind circulation patterns, along with other factors, contribute to the location of
different climate zones.
Convection cells at the equator, called Hadley cells, create areas of high and low
pressure associated with the trade winds. Low pressure at the equator results in
high rainfall – forming Africa’s equatorial rainforests.
High pressure areas occur around 30° north
and 30° south latitudes. These areas see
very low annual rainfall – forming the
arid land of the Sahara and Kalahari
deserts.
equator
What is the Coriolis effect and how
does it affect winds?
True or false?
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Which way are winds deflected in the
Northern Hemisphere? Southern
Hemisphere?
Figure 6.11 illustrates atmospheric
circulation and heat exchange. The
arrows on the side of the globe in the
drawing are called Hadley Cells. There
are 6 Hadley Cells. These arrows
illustrate the atmospheric circulation you
read about on page 115. The red
shading represents warm air and the
blue shading represents cool air.
Draw the illustration in figure 6.11.
Label:
Winds in both hemispheres
Polar Easterlies
 Prevailing Westerlies
 Trade winds
 Doldrums
The Hadley ,Ferrel, and Polar cells
indicating the direction of atmospheric
circulation. Indicate the warm air and cool air
on your illustration with colors.
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Global Oceans
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What is the global ocean and how much of
Earth’s surface does it cover?
What are the names of the 4 sections of the
global ocean? Which is the largest?
What is the relationship between prevailing
winds and surface ocean water?
What are gyres?
Which way do ocean currents move in the
Northern Hemisphere? Southern Hemisphere?
What does circumpolar mean? Which
hemisphere is the flow of water less affected by
land masses
Surface Ocean Currents
Ocean Conveyor Belt
Sea Surface Temperatures
Global Oceans
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What is the ocean conveyor belt?
Describe the currents.
How does the Gulf Stream and North
Atlantic Drift affect the climate of
Europe?
What happened when the ocean
conveyor belt changed about 11,000 to
12,000 years ago?
For this question you will need to use the old book
with the polar bear on the front cover. On page
you will see a map of ocean currents very similar
to the one in your textbook but the warm and cold
water currents are labeled better. On the map
provided, label the following currents:
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North Atlantic Drift
Gulf Stream
North Atlantic Equatorial Current (Canaries Current)
Alaska Current
California Current
Peruvian Current (shown as the Humboldt Current
in your textbook)
Labrador Current