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Midterm Assignment

Hector M. Medina

Earth Science and Society – GEOL-108

Mid Term 2

1. - Modern astronomy basically begins with the re-emergence of the heliocentric view of the

universe by Copernicus.   Who were the four other major contributors to the development of

modern astronomy after Copernicus?  Explain what those contributions were.  Finally, why

did it take so long for the geocentric view of the universe to be overthrown and what does that

tell us about scientific research and our society, even today?

The other four major contributors to the development of modern astronomy after Copernicus are:

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) he was credited with creating the early telescope that was able to

enlarge objects up to 20 times. Assisted by his telescope, he was able to prove the heliocentric

theory proposed by Copernicus. in his Letters on the Sunspots (1612), Galileo enumerated more

reasons for the breakdown of the celestial/terrestrial distinction. Basically the ideas here were

that the sun has spots (maculae) and rotated in circular motion, and, most importantly Venus had

phases just like the moon, which was the spatial key to physically locating Venus as being

between the Sun and the earth, and as revolving around the Sun. In these letters he claimed that

the new telescopic evidence supported the Copernican theory. Certainly the phases of Venus

contradicted the Ptolemaic ordering of the planets.

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), despite being a Danish noble, turned to astronomy rather than

politics. he was of the opinion that the world-system of Copernicus:

1. The universe is spherical;

2. The earth is also spherical;

3. The earth forms a single sphere with water;

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4. The motion of the heavenly bodies is uniform, eternal, and circular or compounded of

circular motions;

5. Does the earth have a circular motion? What is its position?

6. The immensity of the heavens compared to the size of the earth;

7. Why the ancients thought the earth was at rest at the middle of the universe as its center;

8. The inadequacy of the previous arguments and a refutation;

9. Can several motions be attributed to the earth? The center of the universe.

He concluded that it was mathematically superior to that of Ptolemy, but physically absurd. His

cosmology was geocentric, in opposition to Copernicus Granted the island of Hven in 1576 by

Frederick II, he established Uraniborg, an observatory containing large, accurate instruments.

Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) a convinced Copernican, Kepler was able to defend the new

system on different fronts: against the old astronomers who still sustained the system of Ptolemy,

against the Aristotelian natural philosophers, against the followers of the new “mixed system” of

Tycho Brahe, whom Kepler succeeded as Imperial Mathematician in Prague, and even against

the standard Copernican position according to which the new system was to be considered

merely as a computational device and not necessarily a physical reality. While he attained

immortal fame in astronomy because of his three planetary laws:

1. The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci.

2. A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.

3. The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the

semi-major axis of its orbit.

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Kepler also made fundamental contributions in the fields of optics and mathematics. He was one

of the most significant representatives of the so-called Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th

centuries.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Newton’s first major public scientific achievement was the invention,

design and construction of a reflecting telescope. He ground the mirror, built the tube, and even

made his own tools for the job. This was a real advance in telescope technology, and ensured his

election to membership in the Royal Society. The mirror gave a sharper image than was possible

with a large lens because a lens focusses different colors at slightly different distances, an effect

called chromatic aberration. This problem is minimized nowadays by using compound lenses,

two lenses of different kinds of glass stuck together, that errs in opposite directions, and thus

tend to cancel each other’s shortcomings, but mirrors are still used in large telescopes.

His monograph Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published in 1687, laid the

foundations for most of classical mechanics. In this work, Newton described universal

gravitation and the three laws of motion, which dominated the scientific view of the physical

universe for the next three centuries:

Law 1: Every body perseveres in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a right line, unless it is

compelled to change that state by forces impressed thereon

Law 2: The alteration of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made

in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed.

Law 3: To every action there is always opposed an equal and opposite reaction: or the mutual

actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and directed to contrary parts.

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Newton showed that the motion of objects on Earth and that of celestial bodies is governed by

the same set of natural laws: by demonstrating the consistency between Kepler's laws of

planetary motion and his theory of gravitation he removed the last doubts about heliocentrism

and advanced the scientific revolution. The Principia is generally considered to be one of the

most important scientific books ever written, both due to the specific physical laws the work

successfully described, and for its style, which assisted in setting standards for scientific

publication down to the present time.

One reason why the geocentric model remained in popularity for so many years is because it did

explain many observations made by the early Greeks. For example, the geocentric model

explained why things fall toward Earth – gravity – as well why Venus seems to stay the same

distance from Earth based on its unchanging brightness. As astronomers saw problems with the

geocentric theory, they altered it in order to account for these discrepancies. Another reason why

this model remained in popularity so long was because it went along with the Roman Catholic

Church’s policy.

As technology advanced, more problems surfaced facing the geocentric model. In the 16th

century, the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus built on the work of earlier scientists and published

his heliocentric theory in his book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies. In this book, he

made some radical changes, such as asserting that the stars do not orbit the Earth and declaring

that the Earth’s rotation is what makes it appear as if the stars orbit our planet.

The irony is that after all the disputes over these different theories, neither one are necessarily

correct. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity upset both models. Einstein showed that Newton's laws

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were not the correct description of gravity, and they only worked fairly well for (and near) "low

mass" objects like planets. Objects of higher masses and densities (stars and remnants of stars)

require Einstein’s theory of general relativity where the gravitational force is actually due to the

curvature of empty space. New evidence has also shown that the Solar System’s center of gravity

is not the exact center of the Sun. This means that either model is acceptable regardless of the

fundamental differences between the theories. Astronomers use both the heliocentric and

geocentric models for research depending on which theory makes their calculations easier. It

definitely seems as if some things are relative after all.

2. - Explain the relationship of geography to other scientific disciplines.  What is a good

definition for geography or the geosciences in general?  What are the strengths and

weaknesses of geography as a discipline and how do you think that has influenced its

development, or lack thereof? 

Geography is an integrative discipline connecting the social sciences, physical sciences and

humanities in the study of the relations between humans and the earth. Within this framework,

geographers examine virtually any social/physical issue, such as the linkages between

international development and environmental conservation; the opportunities and problems

associated with growth in Florida; monitoring the impact of hurricanes; transport navigation;

consumer profiling; the debt crisis; military targeting; deforestation; conservation, and hunger, to

name a few. With a geographic perspective, such issues become more than isolated events when

they are placed in a broader context of global understanding. In an interdependent world where

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decisions made in Tokyo or Iowa affect the lives of people in all societies, responsible

citizenship requires a solid foundation in geographic knowledge.

We can also add that Geography is the study of place, or space, in the same sense that history is

the study of time. The first question a geographer asks is "where are things located?" but even

more important is "why are they located where they are?" and “how do we map them?”

Geographers are concerned with interpreting and explaining the occurrence, distribution, and

interrelationships in the physical and cultural realms. Because of the breadth of its focus,

Geography is both a natural science and a social science. It forms an interdisciplinary bridge

between the physical and cultural worlds, examining both humans and their environment. Some

geographers specialize in environmental issues, including patterns of climate, vegetation, soil,

landforms, resources, and hazards and their relations to humans. Economic, social, and political

geographers investigate such issues as agricultural land use, settlement patterns, boundary

disputes, and the trade areas of cities, cultural diffusion, perceptions of the environment, labor

markets and international trade. While others focus on mapping these applications with computer

software and global positing systems at ever improving accuracy and precision.

As technology advances, it makes geography a more exact science by using resources that were

not available when this discipline was in its infancy. The development of satellites, computer

technology and all sorts of resources that allows geographers to have access to a wealth of data.

It helps them to understand the changes in climate and other elements that will affect our society,

our natural resources and the way we live every day.

The advancement in the field nowadays has created a vast field of opportunities for professional

geographers today who now often find employment in government, either at the local or state

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levels, or in a variety of federal agencies, the military, and in international organizations. Most

positions do not carry a title of “Geographer”; rather, geographers fill such jobs as Cartographer,

Intelligence Officer, Landscape Ecologist, Geographic Information Specialist, and Soil

Conservationist. Another rapidly developing field is metropolitan and regional planning, in

which geographers are engaged in monitoring environmental problems, land use changes,

emergency planning, waste disposal, housing, transportation patterns, and poverty abatement.

3. - Weather and climate are separate, but related, terms.  Provide a definition of each and

then give an example of a concept related to both weather and climate.  Additionally, since

they are important issues when dealing with the subject of climate today, what is the

greenhouse effect and global warming?  Are they the same thing?  If not, how are they

different? What influence would global warming have on “nature” and our lives?

Weather: is the day-to-day state of the atmosphere, and its short-term (minutes to weeks)

variation. Popularly, weather is thought of as the combination of temperature, humidity,

precipitation, cloudiness, visibility, and wind. We talk about the weather in terms of "What will

it be like today?", "How hot is it right now?", and "When will that storm hit our section of the

country?"

Climate: is defined as statistical weather information that describes the variation of weather at a

given place for a specified interval. In popular usage, it represents the synthesis of weather; more

formally it is the weather of a locality averaged over some period (usually 30 years) plus

statistics of weather extremes.

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We talk about climate change in terms of years, decades or even centuries. Scientists study

climate to look for trends or cycles of variability (such as the changes in wind patterns, ocean

surface temperatures and precipitation over the equatorial Pacific that result in El Niño and La

Niña), and also to place cycles or other phenomena into the bigger picture of possible longer

term or more permanent climate changes.

The greenhouse effect is the process by which thermal radiation from earth’s surface is absorbed

by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Part of this re-radiation is

back towards the surface and the lower atmosphere; this produces an elevation of the average

surface temperature above what it would be in the absence of the gases

Radiation coming from the Sun at the frequencies of visible light largely passes through the

earth’s atmosphere to warm the planetary surface, which then emits this energy at the lower

frequencies of infrared thermal radiation. This infrared radiation then is absorbed by greenhouse

gases, which in turn re-radiate much of the energy to the surface and lower atmosphere. This

mechanism is named after the effect of that solar radiation has when passing through glass and

warming a greenhouse, but the way it retains heat is fundamentally different as a greenhouse

works by reducing airflow, isolating the warm air inside the structure so that heat is not lost by

convection.

Earth’s natural greenhouse effect makes life as we know it possible. However, human activities,

primarily the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests, have intensified the natural

greenhouse effect, causing global warming.

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In contrast, Global Warming is defined by The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency definition

of global warming as:

“an average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the Earth’s surface and in the

troposphere, which can contribute to changes in global climate patterns. Global warming can

occur from a variety of causes, both natural and human induced. In common usage, “global

warming” often refers to the warming that can occur as a result of increased emissions of

greenhouse gases from human activities.”

There is a correlation between the Greenhouse effect and the Global Warming; this is mostly

because humanity by burning fossil fuels and polluting the environment with all sort of

chemicals, explosive urban development and the destruction of the rain forest among other

manmade disasters are having a drastic effect in our planet’s climate change and temperature in a

global scale. The results are not just merely warmer weather, but an erratic climate that if left

unchecked could cause pervasive natural disasters and species extinction.

The concern is that global warming is increasing. The greenhouse gas emissions that cause the

warming trend are likely to continue into the future.  The projection is that the warming will

increase by six to ten degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century.

While the international scientific community is in agreement about the reality of global warming,

segments of the general public, particularly in the United States, are still skeptical.

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4. - Explain the pressure gradient force, the Coriolis Effect and the frictional force and their

effects on the direction and speed of air at the surface and aloft in the atmosphere.  Describe

the wind and pressure systems (surface and aloft) that exist in the zone from the Equator to

the North Pole in the Northern Hemisphere.  There is a close relationship between

atmospheric pressure patterns, wind zones and precipitation patterns.  The global map of total

annual rainfall shows great differences in precipitation received from place to place.  Using at

least 3 reasons, explain why this is so.

Even when the definition of these terms can be applied in many ways, I am aiming my definition

towards physical geography:

Pressure Gradient Force: In the case of atmospheres, the pressure gradient force is balanced by

the gravitational force, maintaining hydrostatic equilibrium. In the Earth's atmosphere, for

example, air pressure decreases at increasing altitudes above the Earth's surface, thus providing a

pressure gradient force which counteracts the force of gravity on the atmosphere.

Coriolis Effect and frictional Force: Coriolis effect is in the large-scale dynamics of the oceans

and the atmosphere. In meteorology and oceanography, it is convenient to postulate a rotating

frame of reference wherein the Earth is stationary. In accommodation of that provisional

postulation, the centrifugal and Coriolis forces are introduced. Their relative importance is

determined by the applicable Rossby numbers (named for Carl-Gustav Arvid Rossby, is a

dimensionless number used in describing fluid flow). Tornadoes have high Rossby numbers, so,

while tornado-associated centrifugal forces are quite substantial, Coriolis forces associated with

tornados are for practical purposes negligible.

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Frictional Force:

High pressure systems rotate in a direction such that the Coriolis force will be directed radially

inwards, and nearly balanced by the outwardly radial pressure gradient. This direction is

clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere. Low

pressure systems rotate in the opposite direction, so that the Coriolis force is directed radially

outward and nearly balances an inwardly radial pressure gradient. In each case a slight imbalance

between the Coriolis force and the pressure gradient accounts for the radially inward acceleration

of the system's circular motion.

5. - Compare/contrast the Mediterranean (Csa) climate found along the coast of southern

California and the humid subtropical (Cfa) climate found in South Carolina.  Considering

that comparison, also explain why the western United States has dramatically different

climates from the eastern United States.  An important consideration when considering

climate and climatic change today is the role of El Nino.  Explain the ocean/atmosphere

changes that take during an El Nino/ENSO cycle and the effects these changes have on our

lives and societies.

We can begin by describing the CSA weather in California as warm to hot, dry summers and

mild to cool, wet winters. Mediterranean climate zones are associated with the five large

subtropical high pressure cells of the oceans: the Azores High, South Atlantic High, North

Pacific High, South Pacific High, and Indian Ocean High. These high pressure cells shift towards

the poles in the summer and towards the equator in the winter, playing a major role in the

formation of the world's tropical deserts and the Mediterranean Basin's climate.

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The South Atlantic High is similarly associated with the Namib Desert and the Mediterranean

climate of the western part of South Africa. The North Pacific High is related to the Sonoran

Desert and California's climate, while the South Pacific High is related to the Atacama Desert

and central Chile's climate, and the Indian Ocean High is related to the deserts of western

Australia (Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert, and Gibson Desert) and the Mediterranean

climate of southwest and south-central Australia.

In contrast, CFA Precipitation is plentiful in the humid subtropical climate zone in North

America. Although most areas tend to have precipitation spread evenly throughout the year, a

somewhat monsoon-like pattern is seen in parts of the Southeast (in locales such as Augusta,

Georgia and Columbia, South Carolina), which experience dry winters (by humid subtropical

standards) and warm springs, followed immediately by a long, hot, rainy and humid summer.

The typical humid subtropical climate is best demonstrated by the American Deep South,

because the summers are long and almost tropical, and temperatures reach freezing only a few

times in the winter with rare snowfall, usually three inches or less. Summers in this zone are hot

and humid, with daily averages above 25 °C (77 °F) with average daily maximums above 30 °C

(86 °F).

The physical geography on the Western United States plays an important role in the different

types of climates throughout this region. The seasonal temperatures vary greatly throughout the

West. Low elevations on the West Coast have warm to very hot summers and get little to no

snow. The Desert Southwest has very hot summers and mild winters. While the mountains in the

southwest receive generally large amounts of snow. The Inland Northwest has a continental

climate of warm to hot summers and cold to bitter cold winters.

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Annual rainfall is greater in the eastern portions, gradually tapering off until reaching the Pacific

Coast where it again increases. In fact, the greatest annual rainfall in the United States falls in the

coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest. Drought is much more common in the West than the

rest of the United States. The driest place recorded in the U.S. is Death Valley, California.

Violent thunderstorms occur east of the Rockies. Tornadoes occur every spring on the southern

plains, with the most common and most destructive centered on Tornado Alley, which covers

eastern portions of the West, (Texas to North Dakota), and all states in between and to the east.

We can define El Nino as a semi periodic climate pattern, not a storm, that occurs across the

tropical Pacific Ocean roughly every five years. The Southern Oscillation refers to variations in

the temperature of the surface of the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean (warming and cooling known

as El Niño and La Niña respectively) and in air surface pressure in the tropical western Pacific.

The two variations are coupled: the warm oceanic phase, El Niño, accompanies high air surface

pressure in the western Pacific, while the cold phase, La Niña, accompanies low air surface

pressure in the western Pacific. The Pacific is more important in this regard is that the

fundamental driver of the whole ocean-atmosphere circulation is heat. The large width across the

Pacific allows the existence of a huge pool of warm water in the west. The smaller distances

across the Atlantic mean that the Atlantic warm pool is much smaller. The Pacific warm pool is a

gigantic source of heat that is one of the main controls of the atmosphere. When the warm pool

shifts east (during El Niño) or shrinks west (during La Niña), the effects reverberate around the

world, causing the weather disruptions associated with this cycle. In the Atlantic, there is simply

not enough of a warm pool to make that much difference to worldwide weather. So even if there

is an analogue to El Niño in the Atlantic, it does not have the power to cause weather

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disturbances that affect more than local conditions.

A strong El Niño is often associated with wet winters over the southeastern US, as well as

drought in Indonesia and Australia. Keep in mind that you aren't guaranteed these effects even

though there is an El Niño going on; but the El Niño does make these effects more likely to

happen. Mechanisms that cause the oscillation remain under study.

The extremes of this climate pattern's oscillations, El Niño and La Niña, cause extreme weather

(such as floods and droughts) in many regions of the world. Developing countries dependent

upon agriculture and fishing, particularly those bordering the Pacific Ocean, are the most

affected.

References:

Reston, James Jr., 1994, Galileo: A Life. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

McMullin, Ernan (ed.), 1964, Galileo Man of Science. New York: Basic Books.

J. Dreyer, Tycho Brahe: A Picture of Scientific Life and Work in the Sixteenth Century,

Edinburgh 1890. Reprinted New York 1963

V. Thoren, The Lord of Uraniborg: A Biography of Tycho Brahe, Cambridge 1990

University of Tennessee's Dept. Physics & Astronomy: Astronomy 161 page on Johannes

Kepler: The Laws of Planetary Motion.

Caspar, M., 1993, Johannes Kepler, New York: Dover Publications.

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Biography of Johannes Kepler, The Galileo Project, Rice University

http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/kepler.html. Retrieved 2012-11-29

Difference Between Geocentric and Heliocentric by Abby Cessna, Universe Today, August 2,

2009 http://www.universetoday.com/36487/difference-between-geocentric-and-heliocentric/

#ixzz2DxChL8tlhttp://www.universetoday.com/36487/difference-between-geocentric-and-

heliocentric/#ixzz2DxCDL3kP

Christianson, G. E. In the Presence of Creation: Isaac Newton and His Times. New York: Free

Press, 1984.

The Fall of the Geocentric Theory, and the Rise of Heliocentrism,

http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/tharriso/ast105/Ast105week04.html. Retrieved 2012-11-29

The discipline of geography,

http://www4.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/essentials/

essentials_of_geography.html. Retrieved 2012-11-29

FSU geography, what’s Geography?.

http://www.coss.fsu.edu/geography/Students/what_geography.html Retrieved 2012-11-30

Artic Climatology and Meteorology, National Snow and Ice Data Center,

http://nsidc.org/arcticmet/basics/weather_vs_climate.html Retrieved 2012-11-30

Stephen H. Schneider, in Geosphere-biosphere Interactions and Climate, Lennart O. Bengtsson

and Claus U. Hammer, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-521-78238-4, pp. 90-91.

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E. Claussen, V. A. Cochran, and D. P. Davis, Climate Change: Science, Strategies, & Solutions,

University of Michigan, 2001. p. 373.

NASA Earth Fact Sheet". Nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html