Introduction to Weather and Climate Questions

1) What warms the planet?
The radiation from the sun is what warms the planet. Its energy warms up particles in the atmosphere and it radiates down towards the surface of the earth.

2) Referring to this diagram explain why the equatorial regions receive more radiation and therefore are warmer than polar regions.
The sun doesn’t heat the Earth evenly due to the fact that the Earth is a sphere and the sun heats equatorial regions more than polar regions.

3) Define Albedo. Which would absorb more radiation a snow covered mountain or a black roof?
Albedo is the fraction of solar energy reflected from the earth back into space. It is a measure of the reflectivity of the earth's surface. A black roof would absorb more radiation from the sun because the colour black absorbs all colour and heat unlike the smoother surface of snow and the white colour which would reflect the radiation.

4) Explain lapse rate.  
The lapse rate is defined as the rate at which atmospheric temperature decreases with the increase in altitude.

5) Explain Aspect. In the Northern Hemisphere will plants grow better on the north or the south side facing side of a mountain?
An aspect relates to the direction in which a place is facing and it only affects local climates. South facing slopes receive more sunlight than north ones which is much more proficient for plant growth and survival.

6) Why do we have seasons?
We have seasons because the Earth is tilted as it makes its yearly journey around the sun. The Earth’s axis is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees, so it is always “pointing” to one side as it goes around the sun. The sun is in the direction that the Earth is pointing sometimes, so this varies the amount of sunlight around the Earth during the year, creating seasons.

7) Which heats up faster: Land or Water?
Land heats up faster because water is lighter and more reflective, as it reflects the rays of the sun making it more difficult to heat, also keeping in mind that the molecules of water are always in motion making it more difficult for the sun to heat up the water in a uniform motion.

8) Describe the impact that being far away from water has on the climate of the prairies
The impact of being far away from water in the prairies makes the climate extremely cold during winters and extremely hot during summers and dry throughout both seasons as there is no moisture in the air and bodies of water aren't present to regulate temperatures.

9) Explain the impact of the Gulf Stream on Norway.
The chaotic currents warms Norway as its choppy and rapidly moving waters brings the warmth from the atmosphere from the tip of Florida up to Norway.

10) What current runs past BC?
The current that runs past BC is called North Pacific.

11) Describe the impact of adding extra carbon dioxide to the atmosphere on the temperatures of Earth.
Adding extra carbon dioxide to the atmosphere increases temperatures of the earth as it creates greenhouse gases that traps the sun rays, trapping the heat and causing global warming.

12) Describe convection.  THIS IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE COURSE
Convection is the movement caused within a liquid where the hotter and therefore less dense material to rise, and colder, denser material to sink under the influence of gravity, which consequently results in transfer of heat.

13) What is wind?
Wind is the natural movement of air, in the form of a current of air blowing from a particular direction.

14) Explain urban heat islands, and explain why they occur.
Urban heat islands are metropolitan areas that are a lot warmer that its surrounding rural areas caused by human activities.

5 Themes Assignment: Part B

An example of an absolute location in Haiti is the coordinates of longitude and latitude of its capital city, Port au Prince, which is 18.5333° N, 72.3333° W. Absolute location is important to make it easier to refer to an exact pin-pointed place on a map so other people can find it with complete accuracy. Absolute locations help people communicate and interact with each other as it provides a means of communication to detect destinations easily amongst different people. Relative locations allow people to give or follow directions from one destination to another, it allows people to get around and map out how long a journey may take and the most suitable form of transportation in which they should use to travel to their destination. As an example of relative location in Haiti, is from Port au Prince to Cap-Haitien is 251.1 km and it takes three and half hours by car.

A place explains what a location is like with human characteristics as well as physical, therefore Haitis' physical characteristics would be described as being a very mountainous country with fertile valleys and has a vast area of contrast between elevations in between mountain ranges. And it's human characteristics would be that they're capital city is heavily populated and cramped with people with many houses and buildings.

Regions are areas that have physical or human characteristics that connect them and make them different or similar to other regions. Haiti is in the region of the Greater Antilles, Caribbean distinguished from other regions because of its mountainous terrain, vast range of elevations and heavily dense population.


Movement is how goods, people and ideas get from one place to another. An example of movement in Haiti are the "tap-tap" buses, which are the most common source of public transit in Haiti getting its name from people tapping their change on the sides of the bus indicating to the bus driver that they want to get off. The buses transport people all over the country, however usually in routes of specific cities.




Human-Environment interaction tells us how people relate to the physical world and how humans can adapt to their environment and change elements of it. An example of this is locals and tourists going for a swim in the crystal waters of Labadee. In this instance humans are interacting with the physical environment that was already their. I think human environment interaction can be used as a profitable gain towards the economy of the country as it attracts tourists, making more tourists come see the country and experience all the activities to do and see involved with the physical characteristics of the environment. Another example is the littering that occurs by tourists on the beaches of Haiti and pollution from all the vehicles in the cities that adapts the environment caused by people, showing the negatives of human-environment interaction.

5 Themes Assignment: Part A

This is 1001 steps located at crescent beach in Whiterock. This picture represents a place that was created by humans, making it fall into the human characteristics category,

This picture represents human-environment interactions. Humans depend on cedar trees as we have an abundance of cedar trees in BC and they bring money to our country from trades and exportation to other regions/countries. We also depend on them for oxygen and animals depend on them for shelter in forests.

 This picture represents a location, relative to our school. The location is the Strawberry Hill Cineplex theatre and it is 6.8 km from Sullivan heights.

4 Spheres of the Environment

 

   An earthquake occurred near Port au Prince, Haiti in 2010 measuring to be 7.0 on the Richter scale killing over 230,000  people. It was the seventh most deadliest earthquake in the world to this date and when it happened the devastation was felt globally. The wreckage and destruction left from the Haiti earthquake was immense as 188,383 houses were badly damaged and 105,000 were completely destroyed as well as 4,000 schools damaged or destroyed leaving around 1.5 million Haitian people homeless. After the earthquake there were 19 million cubic meters of rubble and debris in Port au Prince. Over 600,000 people left their home area in Port au Prince and mostly stayed in refuge with host families. One and half million people lived in camps including over 100,000 people at critical risk from storms and flooding as well as 5,899 people died from an outbreak of cholera during this time. The entire country was left in ruins and poverty stricken relying on aid from surrounding countries for its survival.

 The earthquake involved the lithosphere as the tectonic plates moved creating friction and causing the earthquake resulting in ridges and breakage of the ground at the fault line and crust and mantle of the earths layers, as well as all of the rubble and fallen debris from the movement of the earthquake shaking the ground and buildings. The hydrosphere was involved as the earthquake affected the ocean surrounding the island of Haiti causing a tsunami and washing out shores and creating flooding as well as taking some lives of Haitian peoples. People, animals and trees and vegetation were all also involved, representing the biosphere as peoples homes were ruined and excessive water from flooding ruined plant life and buildings, people and anything really in its wake. The atmosphere was involved in the earthquake as chemicals and dust polluted the air from collapsed buildings which also harmed the biosphere as it was toxic and harmful for people and animals to breathe.

Original Blog

The Republic of Haiti is located on the Western, smaller portion of the Island Hispaniola, shared with the Dominican Republic between Cuba and Puerto Rico. It is the third largest country in the Caribbean after Cuba and the Dominican Republic with 27,750 square kilometers. It is the Caribbeans most mountainous nation and in 2013 had a estimated population of ten million people, of which 2.1 million occupied Haiti's capital city Port Au Prince, making it an immensely crowded city. The government of Haiti is a semi-presidential republic, where the president is the head of state elected by popular vote of the people and the prime minister is the head of governor appointed by the president.