geography component 1 hazardous earth Flashcards
what is high pressure air?
heavy, cold and dry
what is low pressure air?
light, warm and wet
where is there high pressure air?
the poles
where is there low pressure air?
the equator
why are sun rays strongest at the equator?
the sun directly hits it constantly due to the earths tilt
why is temperature cooler at the poles?
they sun rays are more spread out at the poles as they hit the earth at an angle
how are trade winds caused?
by high pressure air rushing to meet the low pressure air
where do trade winds happen?
the Inter tropical convergence zone and the equator
what does the gulf stream do ?
heated up then moves north , away from the equator towards Europe where it warms the coasts
what keeps heat better, land or water?
water
in the orbital theory, what sometimes happens to the earths orbit?
its sometimes circular and sometimes more of an ellipse
in the orbital theory, what happens to the earths axis?
sometimes its more upright, more on its side or wobble like a spinning top about to fault
what do changes in the earths orbit and axis do?
they affect how much sunlight the earth receives and where it falls on the earth
what are the changes in the orbital alarm referred to as ?
milankovitch cycles
what happens when an asteroid hits the earth?
it blasts millions of tonnes of ash into the atmosphere
what happens to the temperature when an asteroid hits earth?
the ash blocks the sun from reaching earth and the temperature cools.
what do dark spots tell us in the sunspot theory?
they tell us that the suns more active than usual and more solar energy is being fired from the sun
in the eruption theory what do eruptions produce?
ash and sulphur dioxide gas
in the eruption theory where do the eruption gases spread across due to high winds?
the stratosphere
in the eruption theory what does the ash across the stratosphere do?
stop sunlight reaching the earths surface, cooling the planet
whats an example of an eruption that cooled the planet?
mount Pinatubo in the phillipines , 1991
how much ash did mount Pinatubo release?
17 million tonnes
how much did the planet cool by in mount Pinatubo?
0.5 c
whats the enhanced greenhouse effect?
Short uv rays warm up the earth . Long ir rays only escape rarely. When they don’t they warm up the earth
how do you use ice cores to measure climate change?
ice cores are large cylinders that contain air bubbles of co2. the more bubbles there is tells us the hotter the earth was in this period
how can you use tree rings to measure climate change?
when its warm, tree rings grow wider and when its cold tree rings grow narrow
how can you use historical sources to measure climate change?
diaries and books can contain vital info about climate at a certain period
what percent of total gases are carbon dioxide?
89%
what percent of total gases are methane ?
7%
what percent of total gases are nitrous oxide?
3%
