Global atmospheric earth (Topic1)

Question 1

What is wind?

Answer 1

wind is the movement of air caused by the uneven heating of the earth by the sun and the earths own rotation

Question 2

What is the coriolis effect?

Answer 2

the coriolis effect is that circulating air is deflected towards the right in the northern hemisphere and towards the left in the southern hemishphere

Question 3

How does air move around the world?

Answer 3

Air rises at the equator, leading to low pressure and rainfall
When air reaches the edge of the atmosphere, it cannot go any further and so it travels to the north and south
As a result, the air becomes colder and denser and falls, creating high pressure and dry conditions at around 30• north and south of the equator

large cells of air are created in this way

Question 4

Hadley cell

Answer 4

The first cell is called the hadley cell. At the equator, the ground is intensely heated by sun which causes air to rise which creates a low pressure zone

As air rises, it cools and forms thick storm clouds

Air continues to rise until it cannot go any further so it travels to the north and south

As a result, the air becomes colder and denser and falls creating high pressure and dry conditions at 30• north and south of the equator. This is where deserts are found

The hadley cell is then complete. The air completes the cycle and flows back towards the equator.

Question 5

Ferrel cell

Answer 5

The ferrel cell occurs at 30-60• N&S of the equator

Air on the surface is pulled towards the poles forming warm south westerly winds in the northern hemisphere and north westerly winds in the southern hemisphere

These winds pick up moisture as they travel over the oceans

At around 60•N&S they meet cold air. the warmer air is lighter then the dense cold polar air and so it rises as the 2 meet

The uplift in air causes low pressure at the surface and unstable weather conditions. This determines a lot of our wet windy weather

Question 6

Polar cell

Answer 6

At the poles, air is cooled and sinks towards the ground forming high pressure (polar high)

It then flows towards the lower latitudes. At about 60•N&S, the cold air mixes wiht the warmer tropical air and roses upwards creating a zone of low pressure (subpolar low)

The boundary between the warm and cold air is called the polar front.

Question 7

What is an area of low pressure called?

Answer 7

A depression

Question 8

What does areas of low pressure cause?

Answer 8

clouds and rainfall to form (unsettled weather)

Question 9

What happens to winds in a depression and how is it shown?

Answer 9

winds are normaly stronger

shown by isobars being closer together

Question 10

Where do depressions normally form and what direction do they move in?

Answer 10

over the atlantic ocean and are carried across britain by westerly winds and move in an anticlockwise direction

Question 11

How can we recognise depressions on a weather chart?

Answer 11

the isobars are below 1000mb and are packed closer together

a warm front (red line) is followed by a cold front (blue line)

Question 12

What is an area of high pressure called?

Answer 12

an anticyclone

Question 13

What does areas of high pressure cause in summer and winter?

Answer 13

summer: clear skies and a gentle breeze
fine weather

winter: clear skies and colder conditions

Question 14

What happens to winds in a high pressure area and how is it shown?

Answer 14

less winds as the isobars are further apart

Question 15

what direction do anticyclones move in?

Answer 15

clockwise

Question 16

How can we recognise anticlyclones on a weather chart?

Answer 16

isobars are above 1000mb and spread further apart

Question 17

What lasts longer and anticyclone or a depression?

Answer 17

anticlyclones - 2 weeks
depressions 2-3 days

Question 18

Order the layers of the earth

Answer 18

inner core
outer core
mantle
crust

Question 19

Describe the inner core

Answer 19

centre of the earth and is the hottest part of the earth

a solid made up of iron and nickel

temps up to 5500•

Question 20

Describe the outer core

Answer 20

the layer surrounding the inner core

a liquid layer made of nickel and iron

Question 21

Describe the Mantle

Answer 21

the thickest section of the earth approximately 2900km

made of semi molten rock called magma

Question 22

Describe the crust

Answer 22

is the outer layer of the earth

a thin layer between 0-60 km thick

a solid layer and is either continental or oceanic , we live on the crust

Question 23

What is the athenosphere

Answer 23

the upper part of the mantle is called the asthenosphere

made of semi molten rock called magma

Question 24

What was originally believed about plate movement?

Answer 24

The earths crust is broken into tectonic plates, it was once believed that convection currents in the mantle caused the plate to move. However it is now recognised to be more complicated than this

Question 25

what actually causes plate movement?

Answer 25

Mechanism called slab pull and ridge push are believed to move tectonic plates

Question 26

Ridge push

Answer 26

Is where the new crust formed at the divergent plate margins is less dense than the surrounding crust and so it rises to form oceanic ridges The older sea floor either side of the ridge slides away and this moves the seafloor apart – moving the tectonic plates

Question 27

Slab pull

Answer 27

occurs where older denser tectonic plates sink into the mantle at subduction zones as these older plates sink newer less dense sections of plate are pulled along behind sinking in one place leads to plates moving apart in other places

Question 28

Conclusion of plate movement theory

Answer 28

therefore instead of tectonic plates moving because of the convection currents, evidence suggests that it is the plates that drive the convection

Question 29

Natural causes of climate change

Answer 29

orbital changes - milankovitch cycles are variations in the tilt/orbit of the Earth around the Sun, causing natural warming and cooling periods volcanic eruptions - carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere during eruptions Solar output - the amount of radiation omitted by the Sun fluctuates. High level is a radiation lead to an increase in earth temperature

Question 30

Human causes of climate change

Answer 30

Deforrestation- (cutting down trees) trees absorb CO2. One trees are cut down less CO2 will be absorbed leading to increased concentrations of it in the atmosphere Burning fossil fuels - when coal, gas and oil are burned, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere Agriculture - increased animal/pastoral farming leads to more methane being released into the atmosphere Dumping waste in landifill - as waste decomposes it releases methane

Question 31

Evidence for natural climate change

Answer 31

ice cores - are cylinder samples extracted from ice sheets and glaciers. These cores contain layers of ice that have gathered over thousands of years of years each layer representing a year or season Tree rings - when a tree trunk has been cut each ring represents one year of growth and the thickness of the ring reflects the environmental conditions that year. (wider rings =warm wet and narrow rings = cold dry) Historical sources - offer qualitative data on past climate conditions eg. written records, paintings, archeological findings

Question 32

Evidence for human climate change

Answer 32

Thermometer readings Glacier retreats - photographs of glaciers taken years apart show that many of the worlds glaciers are melting and retreating Ice cores Rising sea levels

Question 33

Predictions for global sea level

Answer 33

rise by 2100 vary from 20 cm to over 100cm

Question 34

Predictions for average global temp

Answer 34

increase by 1• to 5•

Question 35

Why are we uncertain about rises from human and natural contributions?

Answer 35

we can't certainly predict future global temperature because earths climate system may respond to increased emmisions in the future

Question 36

Human factors contributing to uncertainty

Answer 36

the future global population is uncertain emmisions per person are tied to wealth and predicting future wealth is hard uncertainty about wether humans will change their emissions or if they will continue to pollute

Question 37

Natural factors contributing to uncertainty

Answer 37

the ice sheets in greenland and antarctica could melt faster in the future significantly raising global sea levels the oceans capacity to absorb co2 might reach a limit a warmer earth may lead to increased cloud cover, these clouds could reflect more solar radiation back into space, offseting some warming

Question 38

What is a tropical storm?

Answer 38

is a powerful, low pressure weather system that forms in tropical regions. air rises rapidly causing low pressure on earths surface

Question 39

Where do tropical storms form and why?

Answer 39

form over warm ocean waters (26-27•) where there is enough moisture and heat to fuel a storm Often form between 5• and 20• north or south of the equator where the Coriolis force is stronger which helps the storm spin

Question 40

Stages of a tropical storm

Answer 40

coriolis force helps the storm spin upwards around a calm central eye of the storm moist air evaporates and rises creating low pressure. as it cools condensation occurs, creating clouds and conventional rainfall. Heat is given off when the air cools and powers the storm cool air sinks into the eye. therefore there is no cloud so it is drier, clear and much calmer storm travels across the ocean by prevailing wind( wind that blows in one direction) Hits land and..

Question 41

What happens when a tropical storm meets land?

Answer 41

it is no longer fuelled by the source of moisture and heat from the ocean so it looses power and weakens

Question 42

LIC emerging/developing - Typhoon haiyan

Answer 42

The philippines novemebr 2013 a category 5 tropical storm wind speeds up to 195 mph causes - warm ocean( in the western pacific

Question 43

Primary effects of typhoon haiyan

Answer 43

90% of tacloban destroyed 6190 dead, highly due to storm surges 29000 people injured 4 mil made homeless 14 mil affected electric was disrupted airport badly damaged 1/3 of farmers and fishers lost their income ( fishers due to oil spill in the sea)

Question 44

Secondary effects of typhoon haiyan

Answer 44

infection and disease spread mainly due to contaminated water survivors fought for food supplies and 8 people died in the stampede looting was high power supply cut off for months in some areas education was disrupted as many school destroyed flooding caused landslides contributing to homelessness

Question 45

Immediate responses to typhoon haiyan

Answer 45

government issued a televised warning to prepare and evacuate 800,000 were evacuated due to this, many found refuge in a stadium in tacloban however many died when it was flooded a curfew was introduced 2 days after the typhoon to reduce looting over 1200 evacuation centres set up to help the homeless 1 million food packs and 250000L of water distributed within 2 weeks

Question 46

Long term responses to typhoon haiyan

Answer 46

a cash for work program paid people to clear debris and rebuild tacloban oxfam replaced fishing boats build back better was the government's response. it tended to upgrade damaged buildings to protect them from future disasters

Question 47

Why are some counties more vulnerable to tropical cyclones/ storms?

Answer 47

countries located in tropical and subtropical regions are more at risk as they are near warm oceans which is where a cyclone forms (nations near the caribbean) mountainous regions can suffer landslides when rain fall is very heavy during a cyclone places (emerging) that rely on agriculture face economic losses when crops are destroyed, food and jobs lost areas with poorly constructed buildings and housing are more likely to be damaged the capacity of healthcare and emergency services to respond to disasters highly populated coastal cities are at greater risk as more people are vulnerable

Question 48

HIC - developed - Hurricane katrina

Answer 48

america- neworleans august 2005 category 5 hurricane wind speeds up to 175mph

Question 49

Primary effects of hurricane katrina

Answer 49

storms caused oil spills 1836 dead more than 150,000 homes destroyed electrical supplies for 3 mil ppl cut off 80% of new orleans flooded (levees were unable to cope with storm surge) bridges and infrastructure collapsed 1200 drowned in flood large tree loss 1 million made homeless

Question 50

Secondary effects of hurricane katrina

Answer 50

looting occurred and tensions high as people felt unsafe most of the transport and communication networks were damaged or disabled in new orleans due to flooding

Question 51

Immediate responses to hurricane katrina

Answer 51

1.7 mil evacuated before it struck charities provided food water and aid more than 35000 ppl rescued by coastguard in neworleans louisiana's national guard asked for 700 buses to evacuate people however only 100 were sent

Question 52

Long term responses to hurricane katrina

Answer 52

the government allocated 62billion to be spent in aid for victims us government spent 20 mill rebuilding new ireland flood defence systems