Transcript The Biosphere

The Biosphere
Chapter 48
Levels
Climate and Weather
• Weather = • Climate = • Regions climate is defined by year-after-year patterns of temperature and
precipitation
• Microclimates – • Warmer or cooler near a body of water
Factors that Affect Climate
• Global Climate is shaped by many factors, including…
• Transport of heat by winds and ocean currents
• Latitude
• Solar energy trapped in the biosphere
Heat Transfer - Winds
•• Wind is caused by warm air being less dense and rising, while the
cooler air is more dense and sinks!
• Our predominant wind direction?
• -
Global Circulation
• • • Once it reaches an altitude that is cold enough, the air condenses
and cools to sink back to the equator.
• The moisture falls as precipitation!
Coriolis Effect
• • -.
• Deflected to the right in the N. Hemisphere
• Deflected to the left in the S. Hemisphere
Earth’s Tilt
• -.
• More intense sunlight and longer days in the summer than the
winter.
Latitude
•• Polar
• Temperate
• Tropical
• Temperate and tropical regions receive different amount of solar
energy at different times of the year because Earth’s axis is tilted.
Harnessing the Sun and Wind
• -.
• Solar energy is 10x the energy from all fossil fuel reserves
combined.
• Uses:
•
•
•
•
Harnessing winds = wind energy
Wind farms = noise and kill birds/bats
In the Air
• Pollutants = • Disrupts normal processes because organisms evolved in its absence
• Ozone layer – • Chlorofluorocarbons, CFCs, main ozone destroyers
• Smog – -
In The Air
• Acid rain – sulfur dioxides, nitrogen oxides mix with water droplets
and fall as rain or snow.
• -
The Ocean, Landforms, and Climates
• -.
• The force of major winds, Earth’s rotation, and topography
determine the directional movement of ocean currents.
Rainshadows and Monsoons
• -As warm moist air moves up mountains, it begins to cool and
condense releasing the water droplets at the top of the mountain.
On the leeward side, rainfall is sparse.
• Monsoon – -
Biogeographic Realms
• Early naturalists divided Earth’s land masses into six realms
• Realms – • Example: Palm trees and calms were one realm
• However, these realms became subdivided over time
Biomes
•• Distribution of biomes is influence by climate, soil type, and
interactions among species
Climograph
•-
Soil in Biomes
• Each biome has a soil profile – -
Other Land Areas
•-
Aquatic Ecosystems
• Aquatic organisms are affected by the water’s depth,
temperature, flow, and amount of dissolved nutrients.
• Water depth:
• Photic zone – • -– area where photosynthesis does not occur
• Benthic zone – -
Freshwater Ecosystems
• 3 major categories of freshwater ecosystems
• • • -
Estuaries
•• Vary in size and depth
• “Marine nurseries” – many larval and young invertebrates and fish
develop here
• Migrating birds use estuaries as rest stops
Marine Ecosystems
•-
Ocean Features
• - – undersea mountains that stand 1,000 meters or more tall
• Attract large numbers of fish and home to invertebrates
• -– superheated water that contains dissolved minerals “spews” out
from the ocean floor
• -– process where nutrient rich waters moves upward along the
coasts of continents