III.

THE SOLAR SYSTEM, THE EARTH AND THE WORLDS CLIMATE

SOLAR SYSTEM Consists of the sun, planets, and the astronomical objects around it. All of which were formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.7 billion years ago. SUN Is the center of The Solar System It gives off light and energy to earth by means of The Suns Rays. 4 SMALLER INNER PLANETS/ TERRESTIAL PLANETS: They are primarily composed of rocks and metals. 1. Mercury 2. Venus 3. Earth 4. Mars TWO OUTER PLANETS: They are called GAS GIANTS They are substantially more massive than the terrestrials. 1.Jupiter and 2. Saturn- two largest planets,composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. TWO OUTERMOST PLANETS: They are called ICE GIANTS 1.Uranus 2. Neptune- are composed of water, ammonia and methane. DWARF PLANETS: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea and Eris. WEATHER Is the condition of the air at any one time ( warm or cold, wet or dry, sunny or cloudy, stormy or calm) CLIMATE Is the pattern of changes in weather over a number of months or years. AREAS NEAR THE EQUATOR have warm or tropical climates. They have two seasons: dry and wet. AREAS AWAY FROM EQUATOR have either temperature or mild and cold climates. Polar and Arctic areas have cold climates because it receives the least sunlight. EQUINOX (March 21 and September 22-23) The number of daylight hours and nighttime hours is exactly equal all over the world.

Sept. 22 or 23

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE - beginning of spring SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE - beginning of fall

SUMMER SOLSTICE - when The Sun stand still longest day of the year in N Hemisphere WINTER SOLSTICE - shortest day of the year TROPIC OF CANCER - the imaginary line that limits the regions of direct sunlight in the N. Hemisphere - It is 23.5 degrees of the Equator TROPIC OF CAPRICORN It is 23.5 degrees of the south of the Equator TROPICAL ZONE Areas between the lines of Tropic of Cancer POLAR REGIONS beyond the Arctic and Antarctic receives no sun for some time of the year. Short summer MIDDLE LATITUDES - Areas between the tropic and polar region - Climate is temperate WATER AND CLIMATE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE the process of movement of water from ocean to air to land and back to the ocean. EVAPORATION when water or liquid changes into gas or water vapor TRANSPIRATION the water vapor which plants emit through their pores. CONDENSATION the process where by water vapor changes into liquid PRECIPITATION the water that falls to the earth from condensation WHAT AFECTS CLIMATE? 1. Heat and moisture 2. Winds and ocean currents 3. The lands nearness to water 4. Elevation

March 21

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE - March 21 beginning of spring SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE - Beginning of fall

STORMS STORM the result of the meeting of warm and warm and cold wind. INTE TROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE- it is sometimes called the InterTropical Front. - It is the Zone where winds from Southern Hemisphere meet those of the N Hemisphere - the two warm-moisture laden unstable air masses come together and are forced to rise. As they rise, they cool and the process produces heavy precipitation often in the form of thunderstorms.

b. Dry-winter tropical climate has high temperature however, these are definite wet and dry seasons. (E.g. India) 2. SUBTROPICAL CLIMATES have warm temperature all year. 2 TYPES OF SUBTROPICAL CLIMATES: a. Humid Subtropical has rain throughout the year b. Dry-Summer Subtropical this is sometimes called Mediterranean climate 3. DRY AR ARID CLIMATES have little rainfall or sometimes no rain falls during the year (E.g. Sudan, Saudi Arabia) - in Semi-Arid climates, there is wet season or a dry season. 4. HUMID COLD CLIMATES are classified in three: a. HUMID OCEANIC cold climate is near water and therefore warmer than their latitude. Warm winds and ocean currents bring rain that moderates the temperature. (E.g. Canada, N. US and Russia) b. HUMID CONTINENTAL OLD CLIMATE rainfall in these areas is evenly spaced throughout the year. c. SUB-ARTIC CLIMATE is mainly found in the Northern Hemisphere. There are long and cold winters here and summers are short. 5. COLD POLA CLIMATE 2 TYPES of COLD POLAR CLIMATES: a. COOL SUMMER POLAR are found in regions that is usually frozen in the ground. b. YEAR ROUND POLAR it is so cold here and the land is always frozen (E.g. Greenland and Antarctica) No plants grow here. 6. HIGHLAND CLIMATE are found in the mountain regions. The higher the mountain the cooler the temperature. It is always snowcovered. (E.g. Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania)

TROPICAL CYCLONES OR TYPHOONS originate in the vicinity of the ITCZ over the Pacific Ocean. - A storm is called a HURRICANE in the Atlantic Region and a TYPHOON in the Pacific Ocean. TORNADO - the most violent al all storms - it is also the smallest storm which is typically less than 30 meter in diameter. WIND CURRENTS WIND is air in motion CURRENT is water in motion [Ocean currents, like winds distribute heat and moisture in often the same patterns as those of the winds] [Nearness to the oceans and large lakes moderate the temperature. Keeping it from becoming very hot or cold] [Temperature changes greatly with ELEVATION] CLIMATES OF THE WORLD: (6 GROUPS) 1. HUMID TROPICAL CLIMATES are found near the equators. The average temperature is high over 18 degrees Celsius. There are also two types of humid tropical climates: 1. Year-round 2. Dry winter a. Year-round humid tropical climate has heavy rainfall and high temperatures (E.g. Africa)

THE EA TH It i li PA TS THE EA TH . ITHOSPHE E

ll.

ATHE OSPHERE it supports the strong solid shell of rocks called the LITHOSPHERE THE POLES 1. ORTH POLEare fi ed points at . SOUTH POLE the opposite ends of the earth. HEMISPHERE or half sphere, divides the earth into two from orth to South and from East to est E UATOR divides the earth between Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere orthern

PRIME MERIDIAN the 0 degree line which starts the determination of proximate between east and west 0 degree Greenwich, England GRID parallel lines of longitude and meridian of longitude which cross upon each other - it gives the exact location of the earth

LONGITUDE west are

are lines that tell how far east and

ORE - Beneath the mantle is the Earth's core. The Earth's core consists of a fluid outer core and a solid inner core. Because the outer core contains iron, when it flows it generates a magnetic field. This is the source of the Earth's magnetic field.

LATITUDE are lines drawn around the globe parallel to each other showing the position of the place north or south of the E uator

1

EA THS ST-the rust overs the ntle nd is the earth's hard outer shell, the surface on hich e are living. ompared to the other layers the crust is much thinner. It floats upon the softer, denser mantle. The crust is made up of solid material ut this material is not the same everywhere. There is anOceanic crust and a ontinental crust. The first one is about -7 miles -11 m) thick and mainly consists of heavy rocks, like basalt. The ontinental crust is thicker than the Oceanic crust, about 19 miles km) thick. It is mainly made up of light material like granite.

'2 2

The li ti . . HY OSPHE E the ter here . ATMOSPHE E the i r here r the eous ortion

MA TLE - The mantle is a part of a terrestrial planet or other rocky body large enough to have differentiation by density. The interior of the Earth, similar to the other terrestrial planets, is chemically divided into layers. The mantle is a highly viscous layer between the crust and the outer core. Earth's mantle is a rocky shell about , 90 km 1, 00 mi) thickthat constitutes about percent of Earth's volume.

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