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Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills
What is Weather?
• Science Concepts: student knows the source &
flow of energy through an environmental
system.
• The student is expected to:
• Day-to-day condition of earth’s atmosphere at
a particular time & location
– Explain the flow of energy in an ecosystem,
including convection, conduction, & radiation.
– Investigate & explain the effects of energy
transformations in terms of the laws of
thermodynamics within an ecosystem.
– Investigate & identify energy interactions in an
ecosystem.
What is Climate?
Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills
• Science Concepts: student knows that
environments change naturally.
• The student is expected to:
• Average, year-after-year conditions of
temperature & precipitation in a
particular region.
– Explain how regional changes in the environment
may have a global effect.
– Describe how temperature inversions impact
weather conditions, including El Nino and La Nina
oscillations.
– Analyze the impact of temperature inversions on
global warming, ice cap & glacial melting, &
changes in ocean currents and surface
temperatures.
The Role of Climate
What Influences Climate?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Radiant energy from sun
Trapping of heat by atmospheric gases
Latitude
Heat transport by winds
& ocean currents
Amount of precipitation
Shape of land (topography)
Elevation of land (altitude)
Human activities?????
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The Greenhouse Effect
• What is earth’s natural insulating blanket?
The Atmosphere
• A natural situation in which heat is retained by
a layer of greenhouse gases (GHG).
Earth’s Rotation
Effects Wind &
Ocean Currents
• Carbon dioxide, methane,
water vapor, & a few other
atmospheric gases trap heat
energy & maintain earth’s
temperature range.
Each pair of students
gets a circle
The Coriolis Effect
• This effect is caused by the rotation of the Earth.
• Winds blow at an angle to
the equator
• Winds in the northern
hemisphere blow to the
right and winds in the
southern hemisphere
blow to the left.
Heat Transport in the Biosphere
• Earth is a sphere tilted on its axis
Solar radiation
hits at different
angles
Unequal
heating of
Earth’s surface
Drives wind &
ocean currents
• Wind & ocean currents transport heat
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Energy Conversions in Weather
Conduction
• Direct heat
• Heat
transfer by
coming into
contact with
something.
Convection
• Heat
transfer by
air/water
• heat transfer
from particles
being heated
& rising,
causing
currents to
form.
Convection Currents
Radiation
• Heat
transfer
through
empty space
(vacuum) in
the form of
waves.
Energy Conversions in Weather
El Nino
• Warming of water in the Pacific Ocean
Conduction
• Cooking
food
• Touching a
hot light
bulb
• Touching a
hot stove
Convection
Radiation
• Blowing
warm air
into your
cold hands
• Steam burns
• Light waves
• Radio waves
• Infrared
heat waves
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•
•
•
•
Higher than average winter precipitation to SW US
Increased storminess across S US
Flooding in S America
Drought in SE Asia and Australia
Warm water disrupts food chain of fish, birds, & sea mammals
• Light bulb
• Solar
• Fire
La Nina
• Cooling of water in the Pacific Ocean
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•
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•
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Snow & rain on the west coast
Unusually cold weather in Alaska
Unusually warm weather in the rest of the USA
Drought in the southwest
More hurricanes in the Atlantic
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La Nina
2011
• 80% of state is in
“exceptional” drought
• Worst drought since 1950s
• Driest single year since 1895
• Worst wildfire record
– 3,218 fires & 2,876,429 acres
as of Oct 17, 2011
• Set record for hottest JuneAugust
• Estimated crop/livestock
losses of $5.2 billion
• Predicted to last a few years
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