Climate Drivers - Summary
Sunlight and Climate:
1. What is the basic relationship between sunlight and temperature? What impact does
the curved surface of the earth have on the temperature of different areas?
 Thermal energy (heat) = energy that makes particles move
 Sun energy makes water and air particles move = drives our weather
 Higher altitude is colder because area covered by the beam of sunlight is greater and
distance travelled by the beam of sunlight is greater
 Seasons
2. What is the impact of “albedo” on the temperature of an area?
 Albedo = whether a surface absorbs or reflects light
 Ice = reflects nearly all light = high albedo
 Asphalt = absorbs nearly 99% of light = low albedo
 Prevents the Earth from absorbing too much sunlight
 Stable climate: incoming heat absorbed by the Earth = Outgoing heat escaping (Earth’s
Heat Budget)
3. What is the impact of surface composition (sand, water) on the temperature of an
area?
 land heats up much more quickly than water does
 land cools down much more quickly than water does
 land = solar energy is absorbed in the first few centimetres
 water = solar energy travels deeper into the water
Atmosphere and Climate:
4. How can heat move from one object/area to another? (conduction, convection,
radiation)
 Density = number of particles in a given volume
 More particles = more dense
 Convection: denser liquids moves down and the less dense liquids moves to the top (air
and water movement)
 Conduction: energy transferred between atoms through collisions (land to air)
 Radiation: particles emit electromagnetic waves which are converted to heat upon
interaction with matter.
 Wind is an example of convection currents (cold air molecules fall and warm air molecules
rises
 Sea breezes/land breezes
5. What effect do gases such as CO2 have on global temperatures? How do gases such
as water, CO2 and methane hold heat?
 Greenhouse gases absorb heat and re-radiate the heat in all directions
 Greenhouse gases in our atmosphere trap hear = insulating blanket
 Greenhouse effect
I.
Energy from the sun reaches the Earth
II. Earth’s surface warms up and radiates out lower energy infrared radiation
III. Gases in the atmosphere absorb the IR radiation and radiate the energy in all
direction
IV. Some radiation goes back to Earth’s surface and warms it up even more.
 Greenhouse gases:
I.
Water vapour: feedback loop
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Carbon dioxide: volcanoes, burning organic matter and cellular respiration.
Plants are carbon sinks
Methane: decomposition in swamps, animal digestion, rice paddies
Ground level ozone: chemical reaction between sunlight and chemical in
vehicles exhaust
Nitrous oxide: produced by reactions of bacteria in soil and water
Water and Climate:
6. Does water hold heat better than air? Does living near water have a warming or
cooling effect on local climate?
 Water holds heat better. Warms up slower than air and releases heat it slowly
 Gulf Stream makes northwest Europe much more temperate than any other region at the
same latitude.
 The California Current makes the Hawaiian Islands cooler (sub-tropical) than the tropical
latitudes in which they are located.
 Ocean current that reaches Peru is cold = air above it is dry = coast of Peru is cool and
dry = desert called the Atacama Desert beside the Pacific Ocean
 Western side of Pacific Ocean = warm waters evaporate to form clouds = high amounts of
precipitation
 Ocean currents are responsible for coastal regions being cooler in summer and warmer in
winter than regions inland
7. What factors affect the movement of water in lakes and oceans? (temperature, salinity)
 cold, dense ocean water at the poles sinks to the ocean floor
 warmer suface water from the equator then flows to the poles to take its place
 thermohaline circulation
 ocean currents move water (and thermal energy) from the equator to the poles
 at the poles: water gets colder and it also becomes more salty due to the formation of sea
ice (salt is rejected when water freezes). As a result, the water at the poles is denser and
sinks to the ocean floor.
 at the equator: the surface water is warmer and less dense. Flows toward the poles to
take the place of the cold sinking water.