Name: _____________________________________________________Period: _____ Date: _______________________
Climate Study Guide
Answer the following questions in your notebook:
1. What is the difference between climate and weather? Give an example of each.
The difference between climate and weather is that weather is the current condition of the atmosphere.
Climate is the pattern of weather of long periods of time. An example of climate is that the northwest gets a
high amount of rain throughout the year, whereas an example of weather is that it is currently raining.
2. How does latitude and elevation affect climate?
Latitude affects the climate because as you change your latitude towards the equator, you will get more
sunlight, which cause you to have a hotter climate. Elevation affects the climate because the higher up you go,
the cooler the climate.
3. Explain (with a drawing AND with words) what a rain shadow is and what are its results?
The rain shadow is the result of moist air from a large body of water, passing over a mountain range. As the air
gains elevation going up the windward side, it cannot hold as much moisture, so it loses it in the form of
precipitation. Then, the air on the leeward side of the mountain range will be much drier, and the climate will
be much drier as well.
4. What are four examples of things we can look at to study Paleoclimatology?
Some examples are rings in trees, rings in corals, pollen or plankton shells in soil sediments, or ice cores looking
for greenhouse gases.
5. What cause ocean currents?
Name: _____________________________________________________Period: _____ Date: _______________________
Ocean currents are cause by multiple factors, such as latitude, salinity, and land/seabed formations. An example
of this is described below in number 6.
6. Describe (with a drawing AND with words) the north Atlantic heat pump.
The north Atlantic heat pump is cause by warm salty water, being forced up into the Arctic Circle, where it cools
and gets a little less salty, and it sinks. It is then forced over a ridge between Greenland and Iceland, where it
flows below the hotter, northerly currents. It is also called the Atlantic conveyor belt.
7. What are some causes and some consequences of this heat pump shutting down?
It is shutting down, because as the world heats up, the glaciers start to melt, and this fresh water is much less
salty then the water in the north Atlantic, so the warm tropical water cannot get past it to sink and continue on
in the heat pump.
8. Describe (with a drawing AND with words) the carbon cycle.
The carbon cycle is the flow of carbon atoms through the geosphere and the biosphere.
Name: _____________________________________________________Period: _____ Date: _______________________
9. What are three large carbon sinks we have here on earth?
These include the oceans, fossil fuel reserves, and the atmosphere.
10. What are the natural ways that carbon can get into the atmosphere?
Respiration, decay, limestone break down, volcanos
11. What are the artificial ways that carbon can get into the atmosphere?
Burning of fossil fuels, oil spills
12. What are the natural ways that carbon can be removed from the atmosphere?
Photosynthesis, absorption in water, limestone formation
13. What are the artificial ways that carbon can be removed from the atmosphere?
Planting more trees, Greenhouse gas removal techniques:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas_removal
14. What are the main greenhouse gases in our atmosphere? What is their role in the greenhouse effect?
The gases are water vapor, CO2 methane, and nitrous oxides. Their role is that they are able to absorb infrared
radiation and hole it in the atmosphere instead of letting it escape into space.
15. Is the greenhouse effect bad? Explain.
No, without the greenhouse gases, our planet would likely have an average temperature around 0º F (-18º C)
which is much colder than our current average of about 59º F (15º C)
16. Why should we be concerned with the amount of greenhouse gases we are putting into the atmosphere?
Because if there are too many greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, then the average planet temperature will
rise too high. Consequences include wide swings in temperature, changes in rainfall patterns, a rise in sea level,
and a wide range of impacts on plants, wildlife, and humans