Heating of the Land, Air and Water

The three methods of heat transfer between the Sun and Earth all contribute to the Earth’s weather and climate patterns.When radiation from the Sun reaches Earth, ___ is reflected back into space by clouds, particles in the atmosphere and the Earth’s surface. ___ is absorbed by Earth’s surfaces, clouds and certain gases in the atmosphere. At the surface, ___ of the energy is used by plants to perform ______, and the rest is absorbed by rocks and water, heating them and the air above them.

The specific ______of a substance is the amount of heat required to raise 1 gram of substance by 1 degree Celsius. All substances have a different specific heat capacity.Water has a ___ specific heat capacity (4200 J/kgºC), meaning that it can hold a large amount of heat.

Interactions with Land

The ______is the Earth’s crust, including solid rock, soil and minerals on land and extending under the oceans. Land has a low specific heat capacity. It tends to heat up and cool down fairly quickly. The land absorbs high energy radiation from the Sun (______), and converts it into thermal energy and then emits lower energy IR(______). Any radiant energy that penetrates the land is absorbed in the top layer. The only mechanism that heats the soil below is ______, which in this case is a slow, inefficient process. Think of the layers of sand on a hot day at the beach.

Interactions with Air

Our planet is surrounded bylayers of gases, called our atmosphere, that reaches farther than 100 km above the Earth’s surface. The layers of the atmosphere are:

 (6-20 km):

 (50 km):

 (85 km):

 (690 km):

 (10,000 km):

  • The atmosphere reflects as well as absorbs some of the Sun’s energy to Earth.
  • The energy trapped by the atmosphere conserves thermal energy to keep the Earth warm.
  • In the troposphere, we breathe in air that is ___nitrogen, ___oxygen, and ___trace gases (ex.CO2, methane, argon, helium, hydrogen, ozone, H2O).
  • Ozone depletionin the stratosphere has been caused by ______ (chlorofluorocarbons) that were used in the 1970’s in aerosols and fridges.
  • Air is heated by the land immediately below it through ______, then ______ work to circulate the hot and cold air creating ______.

Interactions with Water

  • The ______ includes all water on Earth and in the atmosphere.
  • Ice covers ____ of the Earth’s surface, mainly located at the poles. Sea ice is meters to inches thick, whereas permanent ice sheets in the poles are kilometersthick. Permanent ice is also found in glaciers, mountaintops and in permafrost.
  • Ice is important because it reflects more energy than rocks or soil (______), aiding in globalcooling.
  • When radiant energy reaches water, heat energy is transferred by ______.

  • Since water has a highspecific heat capacity (ability to hold heat), large bodies of water act as a ______ and have an effect on the climate of nearby regions. Water takes a longer time to heat up or cool down than land does; regions near a lake or ocean tend to have more ______. These regions also have more ______ because air passing over water absorbs water vapour which condenses to form clouds.
  • Ocean currents around the world act like conveyor belts, by slowly moving water and the thermal energy it carries from warm areas to cooler areas. Warm ocean currents warm the surface air which produces rain and warms the land when it reaches it. Conversely, when cold ocean currents cool the surface air, the cold and dry air cools the land it travels to.

The Water Cycle

The water cycle is the movement of energy in a climate system.

Humidity

When water evaporates from the liquid state, some of the water remains as vapour. Humidity is the amount of water vapour in the air. Humidity can be expressed as:

Absolute humidity -the ______ of water in the air (expressed in g/kg)

Relative humidity -the ______ of water vapour in the air compared with the maximum amount of water the air can hold (______).

Warm air can hold more water vapour than cool air. When there is as much water vapour in the air as possible at a given temperature, the air is saturated. When the relative humidity approaches ______ (saturation point), the chance of ______forming and eventual ______ is strong.

Clouds

As water vapour in the atmosphere rises, the pressure and temperature decreases causing it to ______forming fog, mist and clouds.

There are many different types of clouds which range in size, shape and appearance. The reason for this diversity lies in the variety of wind conditions, temperature and humidity that the Earth experiences.

Meteorologists usually classify clouds according to three general shapes:

Cumulus –

Stratus –

Cirrus –

Either stratus or cumulus clouds may cause ______. The name given to a rain or snow cloud is a combination of the shape name with the term “-______“ or “______-“.

In addition, clouds are also classified by their altitude:

Clouds below 6000 feet are some form of ______

Middle clouds (6000 - 20 000 feet) are given the prefix “______-“

High clouds are nearly always made of ice crystals and are given the term “______-“ or “-______”

Types of precipitation

Most rain starts our as tiny ice crystals. As these crystals collide with water droplets and become larger, snowflakes develop. Various forms of precipitation are caused by the temperature of the air that the snow falls through.