geog book 3 chap 2

Question 1

how has earths climate zones changed?

Answer 1

climate zones have expanded and contracted over time
temperature: most impt variable, used to determine if the boundaries of climate zones have changed

Question 2

give an example of the change in temperature of climate zones

Answer 2

18000 years ago earth experienced a decrease in temp during the glacial period

large ice sheets formed over continents near artic oceans

transition from glacial to interglacial period increased temp and continental ice sheets melted

present: increase in sea surface and air temp causing tropical climate zones to expand in coverage across the earth

Question 3

how has climate change cause changes in earths orbit shape

Answer 3

process: earths orbit stretches from circular to an elliptical shape and back again through a cycle of 100 000 years

impact: when earth’s orbit is the most elliptic, the earth will travel in a more oval shape
this causes more radiation to reach earth at the planet’s closest approach to the sun increasing temperature

Question 4

how has climate change cause changes in earths tilt

Answer 4

process: the earth’s axis varies back and forth between 21.5° to 24.5° over a cycle of 41 000 years

impact: when tilt decreases, hemispheres lean further away from the sun causing warmer winters and cooler summers

enables the build up of large ice sheets in higher latitudes cooling the earth

Question 5

how has climate change cause sunspot occurences

Answer 5

a spot or dark patch that appears from time to time on the surface of the sun

increase in sunspot activity is due to the higher amount of solar radiation emitted from the sun

sunspots have lower temp causing areas around it to radiate more energy causing more solar radiation emitted from the sun increasing temp

no of sunspots increase and decrease in a cycle of every 11 years

Question 6

how has climate change cause large scale volcanic eruptions

Answer 6

volcanic eruptions release high amts of co2 h2o so2 dust and ash into the atmosphere
spread around the low atmosphere area of the earth
-> absorb and reflect such particles back to space

this temporarily offsets the greenhouse effort decreasing temp