wednesday may 11, 2011
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Wednesday May 11, 2011. (El Nino and La Nina; Koppen Climates ). The Launch Pad Wednesday, 5/11/11. What is being illustrated in this picture?. Announcements. Please check your yearly average in this class. If you are below 70 for the year, please come and see me ASAP! - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
WednesdayMay 11, 2011
(El Nino and La Nina; Koppen Climates)
The Launch PadWednesday, 5/11/11
What is being
illustrated in this picture?
AnnouncementsPlease check your yearly
average in this class.If you are below 70 for the year, please come and see
me ASAP!There are only two more
grades remaining!
Assignments For This Six-Weeks Date Issued Date DueLab – Air Masses, the Mid-Latitude
Cyclones, and Weather Maps 4/20 4/25
Lab Quiz - Air Masses, the Middle-Latitude Cyclone, and Weather Maps 5/3 5/3
Lab – Weather Maps 5/4 5/6
Lab - National Weather Service Southern Regional Headquarters Local Weather
Information5/6 5/6
Test 10 5/10 5/10
El NiñoEl Niño is a warm
countercurrent that flows southward along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru, usually
during the Christmas season.
This warm current blocks the upwelling of colder,
nutrient-filled water, and anchovies starve from lack
of food. The strongest El Niño events on record occurred between
1982–83 and 1997–98.
El NiñoThe 1997–98 El Niño event caused
heavy rains in Ecuador and Peru and ferocious storms in California.
El Niño is related to large-scale atmospheric circulation.
The pressure change between the eastern and western Pacific is
called the Southern Oscillation.
Changes in trade winds creates a major change in the equatorial
current system, with warm water flowing eastward.
El Nino effects are highly variable depending in part on the
temperatures and size of the warm water pools.
Normal Conditions
Figure 18.23 A
El Niño
La Niña La Niña events are the opposite of El Niño.
La Niña is triggered by colder-than-average surface temperatures in the eastern
Pacific. A typical La Niña winter
blows colder than normal air over the Pacific Northwest and northern Great Plains, while warming much of the
rest of the United States.Greater precipitation is
expected in the Northwest during a La Niña year.
El Niño and La Niña Events associated with El Niño and La Niña are now
understood to have a significant influence on the state of weather and climate almost everywhere.
World Climates and Global Climate Change
The Climate System
Climate is an aggregate of weather.
Climate involves the exchanges of energy and
moisture that occur among the:
atmosphere,hydrosphere,lithosphere,
biosphere, andcryosphere (ice and snow)
Several components of Earth’s climate
system.
World Climates
All locations on Earth have a
distinctive climate.The most important
elements in a climatic
description are:temperature,
and precipitation.
Climate Classification A climate classification system
brings order to large quantities of information, and
many climatic-classification systems have been devised.
The Köppen classification of climates is the best known
and most widely used system.
This system uses mean monthly and annual values of
temperature and precipitation.
Climate Classification
The Köppen classification of climates describes five principal
climate groups:humid tropical (A)
dry (B)humid middle-latitude with mild
winters (C) humid middle-latitude with severe
winters (D)polar (E)
A, C, D, and E climates are defined on the basis of temperature
characteristics.Precipitation is the primary criterion
for the B group.
Climates of the World Based on the Köppen Classification
Figure 20.4
Köppen Climates Humid Tropical (A) Climates
These are winterless climates, with all months having a mean
temperature above 64ºF.The two main types are:
wet tropics, with high temperatures and year-round rainfall, luxuriant vegetation
(tropical rain forest.)These climates exist in a
discontinuous belt astride the equator, and are strongly
influenced by the equatorial low pressures.
Köppen Climates Humid Tropical (A) Climates
These are winterless climates, with all months having a mean
temperature above 64ºF.The two main types are:
tropical wet and dry, which are found poleward of wet tropics and
equatorward of the tropical deserts.
These climates consist of tropical grassland (savanna), with seasonal
rainfall.
Comparison of A-Type Climates
Figure 20.6