Ch.3 climate, enviroment, and resources

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Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Chapter 3

World Geography

Weather and Climate

The Big IdeaThe sun, location, wind, water, and mountains affect weather and climate.

Main Ideas

•While weather is short term, climate is a region’s average weather over a long period.

•The amount of sun at a given location is affected by Earth’s tilt, movement, and shape.

•Wind and water move heat around Earth, affecting how warm or wet a place is.

•Mountains influence temperature and precipitation.


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Main Idea 1: While weather is short term, climate is a region’s average weather over a long period.

Weather

Climate

• The short-term changes in the air for a given place and time

• Temperature and precipitation from hour to hour or day to day

• Weather is unpredictable

• A region’s average weather conditions over a long period

• The expected more predictable weather for a place based on data and experience


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Movement

•As Earth revolves around the sun, the part of Earth that is tilted toward the sun changes during the year, thus creating the seasons.

Shape

•Earth’s spherical shape means that the sun’s rays directly strike the equator, but only somewhat strike the poles.

•The farther from the equator, or the higher the latitude, the colder the climate.

Main Idea 2: The amount of sun at a given location is affected by Earth’s tilt, movement, and shape.

Tilt

•The part of the Earth tilted toward the sun receives more solar energy than the part tilted away from the sun.


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Main Idea 3: Wind and water move heat around Earth, affecting how warm or wet a place is.

• Air and water warmed by the sun are constantly on the move, making different areas of Earth warmer or cooler.

• Wind, or the sideways movement of air, blows in great streams around the planet.

• Prevailing winds are winds that blow in the same direction over large areas of Earth


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• Weight of air

– Cold air is heavier than warm air.

– When air cools, it gets heavier and sinks.

– When air warms, it gets lighter and rises.

– As warm air rises, cooler air moves in to take its place, creating wind.

• The rising, sinking, and flowing of air creates Earth’s prevailing wind patterns.

– At the equator, hot air rises and flows toward the poles.

– At the poles, cold air sinks and flows toward the equator.

– Earth’s rotation causes prevailing winds to curve east or west.

• Prevailing winds can make a region warmer or colder and drier or wetter.

Wind


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Water and Wind• Ocean currents—large streams of surface seawater driven by

winds—move heat around Earth.

– Carry warm or cool water to different areas

– Water’s temperature affects air temperature near it.

• Large bodies of water, such as an ocean or sea, also affect climate.

– Water heats and cools more slowly than land does.

– Large bodies of water make the temperature of the land nearby milder.

• The place where two air masses of different temperatures or moisture content meet is a front.

– Can produce rain, snow, thunderstorms, and blizzards


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Storms

Thunderstorms

•Produce rain, lightning, and thunder

•Most common in spring and summer

Blizzards

•Produce strong winds and large amounts of snow

Tornadoes

•Small, rapidly twisting funnel of air that touches the ground

Hurricanes and Typhoons

•Large, rotating storms that form over tropical waters in the Atlantic Ocean (hurricanes) or Pacific Ocean (typhoons).

•Produce drenching rains, strong winds, and storm surges

•Largest, most destructive storms


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Main Idea 4: Mountains influence temperature and precipitation.

• Mountains can influence an area’s climate by affecting both temperature and precipitation.

• Temperature decreases with elevation, the height on Earth’s surface above sea level.

• Mountains also create wet and dry areas.

– Air blowing against mountains is forced to rise.

– As the air rises, it cools and precipitation falls.

–This effect produces a rain shadow, a dry area on the mountainside facing away from the direction of the wind.


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World Climates

The Big Idea

Earth’s five major climate zones are identified by temperature, precipitation, and plant life.

Main Ideas

•Geographers use temperature, precipitation, and plant life to identify climate zones.

•Tropical climates are wet and warm, while dry climates receive little or no rain.

•Temperate climates have the most seasonal change.

•Polar climates are cold and dry, while highland climates change with elevation.


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Main Idea 1: Geographers use temperature, precipitation, and plant life to identify climate zones.

• Earth is divided into five general climate zones.

– Tropical—occur near the equator, in low latitudes

– Temperate—occur about halfway between the equator and the poles, in the middle latitudes

– Polar—occur near the poles, in the high latitudes

– Dry—occurs at many different latitudes

– Highland—occurs at many different latitudes

• Geographers divide some climate zones into more specific climate regions.


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Humid Tropical Climate

•At the equator

•Warm, muggy and rainy year-round

Main Idea 2: Tropical climates are wet and warm, while dry climates receive little or no rain.

Tropical Savanna Climate

•North and south away from the equator

•Long, hot, dry season followed by short periods of rain

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Climate ZonesHumid Tropical Climate Tropical Savannah


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Desert Climate

• Earth’s hottest and driest climate

• Receive less than 10 inches of rain a year

Dry Climates

Steppe Climate

• Often border deserts

• Receive slightly more rain than deserts

• Short grasses are most common plants, but shrubs and trees grow along streams and rivers.

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Climate ZonesDessert Climate Steppe Climate


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Main Idea 3: Temperate climates have the most seasonal change.

Temperate Climates• Mild and tend to have four seasons

– Warm or hot summers

– Cool or cold winters

• Occur in the middle latitudes, the regions halfway between the equator and the poles


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Temperate Climates

Mediterranean

•Sunny, pleasant climate occurring mainly in coastal areas

•Summers hot, dry, and sunny; winters mild and somewhat wet

Humid Subtropical

•Occurs along east coasts near the tropics

•Summers are hot and muggy; winters are mild

•Storms occur year-round.

Marine West Coast

•Occurs on west coasts where winds carry moisture in from the seas

•Mild temperatures year-round Humid Continental

•Occurs closer to the poles, in the upper-middle latitudes

•Four distinct seasons Next

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Climate ZonesMarine West Coast Climate Mediterranean Climate


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Tundra Climate

• Coastal areas along the Arctic Ocean

• Long, bitterly cold winters

• In some parts is permafrost, or permanently frozen layers of soil

Ice Cap Climate

• North and South poles

• Temperature lows of more than -120F

• Snow and ice remain year-round, but little precipitation

Highland Climate

•Found on mountains

•Includes polar climates plus others; several climates in one

•As you go up a mountain, temperatures drop and plant life grows sparser.

Subarctic Climate

• Occurs mainly in Northern hemisphere south of Arctic Ocean

• Winters are long and bitterly cold; summers short and cool

• Below freezing half the year

Main Idea 4: Polar climates are cold and dry, while highland climates change with elevation.

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Climate ZonesSubarctic Tundra


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Natural Environments

The Big IdeaPlants, animals, and the environment, including soil, interact and affect one another.

Main Ideas

•The environment and life are interconnected and exist in a fragile balance.

•Soils play an important role in the environment.


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Main Idea 1: The environment and life are interconnected and exist in a fragile balance.

• Plants and animals live where they are suited to the environment, or surroundings.

–Factors such as temperature, rainfall, and soil conditions limit options of where they can live.

• Ecosystem—a group of plants and animals that depend on each other for survival and the environment in which they live

– Formed from connections between living things and the environment

– Changes to the environment can change ecosystems


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Main Idea 2: Soils play an important role in the environment.

• Soils help determine what plants will grow and how well.

• Fertile soils are rich in minerals can support abundant life

• Soils can lose fertility in many ways.–Erosion–Planting the same crops over and over

• When soil becomes worn out, it cannot support as many plants.

– Can lead to desertification, the spread of desertlike conditions


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Natural Resources

The Big IdeaThe sun, location, wind, water, and mountains affect weather and climate.

Main Ideas

•Earth provides valuable resources for our use.

•Energy resources provide fuel, heat, and electricity.

•Mineral resources include metals, rocks, and salt.

•Resources shape people’s lives and countries’ wealth.


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Types of Natural Resources

• Renewable resources are resources Earth replaces naturally.

• Nonrenewable resources are resources that cannot be replaced; they will run out one day.

Main Idea 1: Earth provides valuable resources for our use.

Using Natural Resources

•A natural resource is any material in nature that people use and value.


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Nonrenewable Energy Resources

• Most energy we use comes from fossil fuels, nonrenewable resources that formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals.- Coal- Petroleum- Natural gas

Main Idea 2: Energy resources provide fuel, heat, and electricity.

Renewable Energy Resources

• Will not run out

• Generally better for the environment

• Hydroelectric power—the production of electricity from waterpower

• Wind is used to power wind turbines that create electricity.

• Solar power and geothermal energy—heat from within Earth—can heat water for homes and be turned into electricity


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Nuclear Energy

• Obtained by splitting atoms

• Uses the metal uranium, so some consider it a nonrenewable resource

• Produces dangerous wastes that must be stored for thousands of years before they are safe


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Main Idea 4: Resources shape people’s lives and countries’ wealth.• The natural resources available to people affect their lifestyles and needs.

– People in areas with many natural resources sometimes have more choices on ways to dress, eat, live, travel, and entertain themselves.

• Availability of natural resources affects countries’ economies.

– The many resources available in the United States have helped it become one of the world’s wealthiest economies.

– Countries with few natural resources often have weak economies.

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Ch.3 climate, enviroment, and resources

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