Climate and Terrestrial Biodiversity

• Climate – general pattern of weather conditions over long periods of time

• Temporal scales (decadal to millennia)• “Climate is what we expect, weather is what

we get”• Climate shaped by patterns of air, moisture,

and heat circulation• Three factors drive climate:

1. Uneven Heating of Earth’s Surface

Heating and cooling

Properties of Air, Water,and Land

• Heat and ocean evaporation

• Heat transfer• Evaporation drives

creates the convection cells

• Cycle air, heat, and moisture

3. Rotation of Earth on Axis

Prevailing winds and currents

Greenhouse Gases

• Water vapor, CO2, CH4, and N2O

• Earth gives off heat (infrared)

• Greenhouse gases absorb and return some heat to lower atmosphere

• More greenhouse gasses, more heat return

If deserts are supposed to be here and forests there, why are there exceptions?

Fig. 7-10, p. 147

Cold Polar

TundraSubpolar

TemperateConiferous forest

Desert

Deciduous forest

GrasslandChaparral Tropical

Hot

DesertWet Rain forest Savanna

Tropical seasonal

forest

Dry

Scrubland

Fig. 7-7, p. 145

Prevailing winds pick up moisture from an ocean.

On the windward side of a mountain range, air rises, cools, and releases moisture.

On the leeward side of the mountain range, air descends, warms, and releases little moisture.

Features of Earth’s Surface Change Climatic Patterns

Fig. 7-9, p. 147

Surface Currents Influence Regional Climates

Remainder of the Chapter describes biomes and adaptation of biota. Review and compare

within and between biome types

Fig. 7-9, p. 147