PHYS-2450 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Fokker E.Ii, Flash Flood, Prokaryotic Small Ribosomal Subunit
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1. 1- what is climate: weather = the actual state of the atmosphere at a particular time & location a. i. Air pressure, temperature, humidity, precipitation/sky cover, wind speed/direction are variables used to describe weather a. i. 1. Easy to observe: climate = slowly varying; suitable averages over a month or more; consideration of variability b. i. For climate change usually averaged over 30yr periods b. i. 1. Temp and precipitation are most important variables to climate b. ii. 1. (comparing days high/lows & precipitation with average normal and record temps for that day/month) b. iii. Fraction (%/c ) percentage of how often that temp occurs b. v. we all rely on the stability of our climate ( in particular, food production & freshwater availability are greatly affected by the climate. ) Dessler, p. 4: why would you want to predict the weather? (ex. see if umbrella is necessary, why would you want to predict the climate? (ex. moving and building a house or planning trip, climate parameter: temperature e. i.