BIO205H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Cool Air, Hadley Cell, Atmospheric Circulation
Document Summary
Lecture 3 - climate: climate is the long-term average pattern of weather. It can be described at different scales: global, regional and local (aka a microclimate). The amount of solar radiation differs in the equator/ poles due to this angle, so there are various climates and environments around the world. We end up with cells in the northern and southern hemispheres because of the tilt and rotation of the earth, creating wind patterns of warm and cool air. Wind patterns produce ocean currents which are extremely important for organisms (and for ships back in the days of trading overseas). Elevation: the higher you go in altitude, the colder it gets: all these factors produce precipitation patterns, where some areas get more rainfall on average than others. But not all climate patterns are stable, due to things such as el ni o. Bio205: el ni o is a large scale change in a climate pattern.
