Climate zones and Climate changes

By: Faizan, Andrew, Owais, Danyal and Walid

Table of Content Introduction to climate……......…………………………….…..

…………3

What are climate

zones?.......................................................................4

Köppen climate zone

classification……………………………………....5

Climate change video: Tennessee……...………………………….

……..6

Bioclimate profile classification.

……………………………………….....7

Ecoregions………………………………………………………………

….8

Factors affecting climate in climate zones:

………………………………9

Latitude………………………………………………………………

10

Large bodies of water……………………………...

………………11

Air

currents………………………………………………………….12

Land formations………………………………………………….

…13

Altitude……………………………………………………….………

14

Table of Content

· Balance of Energy on Earth ………………..

………………………....15

· Bibliography…………….…..…………………………………...

….......17

· Bibliography (for images)...

…………………………………………….18

Introduction:Climate

• Have you ever wondered why one area of the world is a desert, another a grassland, and another a rainforest? Why are there different forests and deserts, and why are there different types of life in each area? The answer is climate

• Climate is the condition of the atmosphere at a certain place on earth. It is the long-term weather of an area and it includes weather conditions, weather extremes, droughts and rainy periods. World biomes are controlled by climate. The climate of a region will determine what plants will grow there, and what animals will inhabit it. Because of climate’s major impact on the environment, a change in climate will cause a change in the type of plants.

Climate zone• Geographers divide the world in several different ways. One

of the ways that they divide the earth is by dividing it into climatic zones. These zones are regions of the world in which climate is defined by key values. Also, knowing the climate zone information has a wide range of uses. Gardeners, for instance, rely on climate zones to know which plants they can grow, while biologists need climate zones to help them learn more about the animal or plant they are studying. One of the very first and most popular climate zone classification was introduced by Vladimir Köppen.

Gardeners grow plants that will work well with the climate

Biologist use climate zone information to learn animal’s habitat.

Köppen climate zone classification • One of the most widely used systems of climate zones is

the Köppen climate classification. This system was developed by a Germen researcher named Vladimir Köppen. Köppen categorized the world’s climate into five zones: tropical, dry, moderate, continental and polar zones. Each divisions are further divided into subdivisions (e.g. dry arid and dry semiarid) to give a more accurate account. The Köppen classification method has been improved and revised over the years to give a precise account of the earth’s environmental status.

Climate change video: Tennessee

• Tennessee has been seeing a change in climate for the past decade. The area is seen to be gradually warming up. Because of this trend, it is being discussed whether the state’s climate should be changed on the zone map

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnfkbaRXl_0

Bioclimate Profile• A detailed account of a region’s climate can be seen in a

Bioclimate profile. Bioclimate profiles are a series of graphs that depict the temperature and moisture conditions of a zone. Unlike Ecoregions, Bioclimate profile only describe the climate. This method displays a location’s climate forty to eighty years in the future.

• (a) predicted climate for decades 2030 (b), 2060 (c) and 2090 (d) under climate change

Ecoregions• In the last few decades, it is seen that the concern for the

survival of ecosystems has steadily been increasing in the human population. Because of this gradually increasing worry, scientist have developed a new method of classification in which parts of the earth are categorized based on their ecology. Ecoregions divide the earth based on a regions landforms, soil, plants, animals and the climate. Human factors such as crops and urban centres are also considered. Canada recently developed it’s own system for mapping Ecoregions. In Canada’s system, the major Ecoregions are further divided into smaller Ecoregions.

Factors affecting climate in climate zones

There are five major factors that influence the climate in climate zones

1.)Latitude 2.) Large bodies of water

3.) Air Currents 4.) Land formation 5.) Altitude

Latitude The most important factor that affects the climate

of a zone is the latitudinal degree on which the region lies. Basically, latitude is the angular distance north or south from the equator. The latitude of any given area affects that area’s climate as it indicates the intensity and the duration of sun exposure that the region receives. Because the sun shines directly overhead earth, the energy from the sun is concentrated and is most intense at the equator. Thus the climate of zones located near the equator or at 0 degrees latitude are found to be more warmer as compared to regions farther away from the equator.

Large bodies of water

The presence of large bodies of water can also influence the climate of a region. Although there are many ways in which these water bodies can affect the climate, the most significant impact is based on the fact that these water masses act as heat sponges. In other words, the water absorbs heat during warm periods and release them during cold period. Because of this behavior, large bodies of water are known to be moderators; during the hot days of summer, the water absorbs heat, bringing the temperature down to a moderate level. Similarly, during cold winters, heat is emitting into the air, again, bringing the temperature to a moderate level.

Air currents

• Prevailing winds are yet another aspect that contribute in shaping a region’s climate. These winds mainly affect the precipitation of a region. As prevailing winds pass over the ocean, it picks up water vapours. With the assistance of the winds the vapours are then carried towards land. Eventually condensation takes place and it rains. Because of this behavior, regions where prevailing winds pass over water before reaching land have higher amounts of precipitation as compared to regions that are deprived of such winds.

• Prevailing winds also can have an impact on the temperature of a zone. For example, Because, winds coming from the north pole tend to be cold and dry, the regions the wind passes over may also become colder and drier.

Land formation• Climates zones can also be affected by land formation. The

main aspect of climate that landforms influence is the precipitation. Large formations of land such as mountains affect how air moves over an area.

• Prevailing winds coming in from oceans usually contain a lot of moisture. Now as the air is forced up the windward side of a mountain, the air cools and condenses causing precipitation. Because all the moisture is lost on the windward side of the mountain, the leeward side receives no precipitation. This process is called the rain shadow effect. The presence of such land formation can cause some areas of a zone to receive more precipitation than others.

Altitude

• Another key factor that contributes in shaping the climate of a region is altitude. The higher the altitude of a region the lower the temperature, and vice versa. At high altitudes the atmospheric pressure is lower because there is less air above pushing down. In other words air expands and cools down as it rises from lower altitudes to higher altitudes. Climate zones that are at high altitudes are usually really cold. For instance, in Northern Arizona, Flagstaff is nearly at 7000 feet above sea level. This altitude is one of the reasons that cause the temperature of the area to drop below thirty degrees ferinheight.

Balance of energy on earth• Almost all of the energy that the earth receives comes from

the sun. This energy reaches the earth in different forms of radiation and is absorbed by different parts of the earth. For instance, half of the solar energy is absorbed by land and oceans while the rest is either reflected off or absorbed by the atmosphere. However, with this constant supply of energy, why has the earth not become like the inside of an oven?

• This can be explained by the earth behavior of releasing it’s own radiation. As energy from the sun is absorbed, the earth’s surface gains thermal energy and its temperature rises. The earth’s surface then emits low energy radiations back out. This way the average temperature remains relatively constant.

Bibliography• Smith, S. E. "What Is a Climate Zone?“ wiseGEEK. Web. 28 Dec. 2010.

<http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-climate-zone.htm>.

• Carr, Christine Adam. "Earth's Climate System and Natural Change." SCIENCE PERSPECTIVES 10. 2010. Web.

• Strahler, Arthur N., Strahler, Arthur H., Elements of Physical Geography. John Wiley & Sons, 1984.

• What Is Climate?" Exploring Earth. Web. 9 Jan. 2011. <http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es2101/es2101page01.cfm>.

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