Physical Enviroment Ecology

Front 1

Weather:

Back 1

Current conditions—temperature, precipitation, humidity, cloud cover.

Front 2

Climate:

Back 2

Long-term description of weather, based on averages and variation measured over decades.

Front 3

Climatic variation includes

Back 3

daily and seasonal cycles, and large-scale cycles that occur over years or decades

Front 4

Long-term climate change can be a result of?

Back 4

of changes in the intensity and distribution of solar radiation

Front 5

Climate determines

Back 5

the geographic distribution of organisms.

Front 6

Climate is characterized

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by average conditions, but extreme conditions are also important to organisms as they contribute to mortality.

Front 7

The physical environment must be characterized

Back 7

by its variability over time, as well as average conditions.
The timing of variation is also important, such as seasonality of rainfall.

Front 8

Mediterranean type climate... 2)Grasslands may receive the same amount of annual precipitation,...

Back 8

most precipitation is in winter, summers are dry. Dry summers promote fire.2)but it is spread evenly throughout the year.

Front 9

The _____ is the ultimate source of energy that drives the global climate.

Back 9

sun

Front 10

Energy gains from solar radiation must be what_____to keep temperature the same.

Back 10

offset by energy losses if Earth’s temperature is to remain the same

Front 11

Much of the solar radiation absorbed by Earth’s surface is emitted to the atmosphere as________.

Back 11

infrared radiation

Front 12

latent heat flux is?

Back 12

When water at the surface evaporates it absorbs energy

Front 13

The atmosphere contains?

Back 13

radiatively active (greenhouse) gases that absorb and reradiate the infrared radiation emitted by Earth. and CO2 is the major contributor

Front 14

Increases in concentrations of greenhouse gases due to human activities are altering Earth’s?

Back 14

energy balance, changing the climate system, and causing global warming. without greenhouse we would be 33C cooler

Front 15

Near the equator, the sun’s rays strike Earth’s surface ________.

Back 15

perpendicularly

Front 16

Toward the poles, the sun’s rays are?

Back 16

spread over a larger area and take a longer path through the atmosphere. think fashlight

Front 17

Warm air is less dense than cool air, and it?

Back 17

rising called uplift

Front 18

Air pressure decreases with_______so the rising air____and ________

Back 18

altitude, expands, cools

Front 19

When solar radiation heats Earth’s surface,_____________.

Back 19

the surface warms and emits infrared radiation to the atmosphere, warming the air above it.

Front 20

Solar heating results in uplifts of _______air over the earths surface. That air must be replaced with _____air.

Back 20

warm, cooler

Front 21

Cool air holds _____ water vapor than warm air

Back 21

less

Front 22

The rising air expands and cools, and water vapor condenses to form ?

Back 22

clouds

Front 23

The condensation is a _____ process, which may act to keep the pocket of air warmer than the surrounding atmosphere and enhance its ______.

Back 23

warming, uplift

Front 24

In summer _____clouds form ____when there is ______ at Earth’s surface, and progressively____ atmosphere above.

Back 24

cumulus, thunderstorms, heating,cooler

Front 25

Thunderclouds reach to the boundary between the _____ and ______—where temperatures are ______.

Back 25

troposphere and stratosphere, warmer

Front 26

Tropical regions receive the most _________, and thus have the most _________.

Back 26

solar radiation, precipitation

Front 27

Uplift of air in the tropics results in a _____atmospheric pressure zone.

Back 27

low

Front 28

When air masses reach the boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere, air flows_________.

Back 28

toward the poles

Front 29

Subsidence

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the air descends when it cools and forms a high pressure zone at about 30° N and S. deserts are at this latitudes

Front 30

Hadley cell

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Equatorial uplift creates a large-scale, three-dimensional pattern of atmospheric circulation

Front 31

The polar cell occurs

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at the North and South Poles—high pressure zones with little precipitation—“polar deserts.

Front 32

Ferrell cells exist at _____.

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mid-latitudes

Front 33

The three cells result in the three major climatic zones in each hemisphere

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Tropical, temperate, and polar zones.

Front 34

prevailing winds

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Areas of high and low pressure created by the circulation cells result in air movements

Front 35

Coriolis effect.

Back 35

The winds are deflected to the right (clockwise) in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left (counterclockwise) in the Southern Hemisphere

Front 36

The winds are deflected to the right (clockwise) in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left (counterclockwise) in the Southern Hemisphere

Back 36

Coriolis effect.

Front 37

Water has a _____ heat capacity than land—it can a______ and _____ more energy without changing temperature.

Back 37

higher, absorb, store

Front 38

Summer:

Back 38

Air over oceans is cooler and denser, so air subsides and high pressures develop over the oceans.

Front 39

Winter:

Back 39

Air over continents is cooler and denser, high pressure develops over continents.

Front 40

Major ocean surface currents are driven by _______, modified by the _______.

Back 40

surface winds,Coriolis effect

Front 41

Ocean surface waters are ____ and ____ saline than deep waters, and thus ____ dense. The layers ____ mix.

Back 41

warmer, less, dense, don't

Front 42

Where warm tropical currents reach polar areas, the water _____, ______, and the water becomes more _____ and more dense. The water mass sinks in these regions, and moves back toward the ______.

Back 42

cools, ice forms, saline, dense, equator

Front 43

Upwelling definintion. Occurs where prevailing winds blow ______to a coastline. The force of the wind, (with the Coriolis effect), causes surface waters to flow away from the _____ and deeper, colder ocean waters rise to replace them.
Upwellings influence _________.

Back 43

is where deep ocean water rises to the surface parrell, coast, coastal climates

Front 44

Upwellings also bring nutrients from the deep sediments to the ______—where light penetrates and phytoplankton proliferate. and provides food for _____

Back 44

photic zone, zooplankton and their consumers

Front 45

The warm Gulf Stream affects the climate of

Back 45

Great Britain and Scandinavia

Front 46

Ocean currents act as ________transferring heat from the _____ to the _____.

Back 46

“heat pumps”, tropic, poles

Front 47

As a result of all of the factors affecting the oceans currents a large interconnected pattern of flows that connects all of the worlds oceans is referred to as the

Back 47

great ocean conveyor belt

Front 48

_______ along with ______ are two primary factors that serve to determine the kinds of plants and animals that can inhabit an area

Back 48

Tempertures, precipitation

Front 49

Air temperatures on land show ______ seasonal variation than those over the oceans.

Back 49

greater

Front 50

Elevation also influences

Back 50

temperature

Front 51

Colder climates at ______ elevations result from ____ air pressure and density with ______ elevation. As a result, the heat capacity of the air also ________.

Back 51

higher, lower, increasing, decreases

Front 52

Proximity to oceans, mountain ranges, and regional topography influence regional climate, which influences _______.
________ in turn affects regional _______

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vegetation, climate

Front 53

maritime climate

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Little daily and seasonal variation in temperature, and high humidity (costal areas)

Front 54

continental climate

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Much greater variation in daily and seasonal temperatures. (areas in the center of large continents)

Front 55

Abrupt shifts in _____ on mountain slopes reflect the rapid changes in ______ as temperatures _____, precipitation ______, and wind speed ______ with elevation.

Back 55

vegetation, climate, decrease, increases, increases

Front 56

When an air mass meets a mountain range, it is forced _____, cooling and releasing ________.

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upwards, precipitation

Front 57

rain shadow and is caused by?

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The slope facing the prevailing winds (windward) receives high precipitation, while the leeward slope gets little precipitation. It effects vegetation. North-south trending mountain ranges

Front 58

At night, cooling is _____ at higher elevations, and the cold, dense air flows ______ and pools in ____-lying areas

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greater, downslope, high

Front 59

Large mountain chains can affect the ______ as well

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climate and channel movement of air masses

Front 60

Albedo

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the capacity of a land surface to reflect solar radiation—is influenced by vegetation type, soils, and topography

Front 61

Evapotranspiration

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is the sum of water loss through transpiration by plants and evaporation from the soil.

Front 62

Evapotranspiration transfers energy (as latent heat) and water into the atmosphere, thereby affecting _____ and _____.

Back 62

air temperature and moisture

Front 63

Climate ____ over time and these ____ result in changing conditions for the living organisms.

Back 63

varies, variations

Front 64

In the N hemisphere the earth is tilted _____ the son in summer and _____ from the sun in winter

Back 64

toward, away

Front 65

El Niño events are

Back 65

longer-scale variations in climate associated with a switch (or oscillation) in the positions of high- and low-pressure systems over equatorial Pacific.

Front 66

ENSO also includes ______ events, stronger-than-average phases of the normal pattern, with ____ pressure off the coast of South America and _____pressure in the western Pacific

Back 66

la nina, high, low

Front 67

North Atlantic Oscillation

Back 67

NAO) is a similar atmospheric pressure–ocean current oscillation that affects climate in Europe, northern Asia, and the eastern coast of North America.

Front 68

Pacific Decadal Oscillation

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affects climate in the North Pacific

Front 69

Milankovitch cycles

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These long-term climate oscillations have been explained by regular changes in the shape of Earth’s orbit and the tilt of its axis

Front 70

All organisms, both aquatic and terrestrial, are bathed in a matrix ________.

Back 70

chemicals

Front 71

The atmosphere consists of?

Back 71

Nitrogen (78%).
Oxygen (20%).
Water vapor (1%).
Argon (0.9%).
Trace gases, including the greenhouse gases.
Pollutants

Front 72

Salinity is highest near the ______, and ______ at high latitudes

Back 72

equator, decreases

Front 73

In the oceans, pH doesn’t vary much because the ocean water acts as a _______

Back 73

buffer