Geography

• use decimal degrees.
• In this method, each degree is divided into a base ten system

• 1. is a method of dividing degrees into minutes and
• Seconds

• - A circle can be divided into 360º
• -A Degree can divided into 60 minutes (60’)
• -A minute can be divided into 60 seconds

• Low angle of incoming sunlight (North Pole 60ºN,
• Sunlight Directly overhead(30ºN Tropic of
• Cancer, 0º Equater, Tropic of Capricorn 30ºS), Low angle of incoming
• sunlight 60º South Pole)

• a Line connecting all points at the same
• longitudinal angel.

• is an angular or arc distance east or west of a point
• on Earth’s surface measured from the center of Earth ,

• A line connectin all points at the same
• latitudinal angel.

• – is an angular or arc distance north or south
• of the equator measured from the center of Earth.

• 1. Earths
• water is Primarily Ocean water, Groundwater, Lakes and Fresh water(Groundwater, polar ice, other ice &
• snow, Lakes, Soil Moisture, Atmospheric Water, Marshes, Rivers and Biological
• water.)

• 1. (Continental
• crust, Oceanic Crust & sedmentary Deposits) – it is part of the upper
• mantle & consists of the oceanic crust, continental crust, and uppermost
• mantle. Beneath the lithosphere is the asthenosphere. Sedimentary deposits are
• commonly found at the boundaries between the continental and oceaninic crust.
• The Soil layer is called the edaphosphere and generally covers Earth’s land
• surface.

• – when the rates of inputs and outputs in the
• system are equal and the amounts of energy and matter in storage within the
• system are constant the system is in steady- State equilibrium.

• in natural system, such unchecked positive feedback growth can reach a critical
• limit, leading to instability, disruption, or death of organisms. Global
• climate change creates an example of positive feedback. (i.e. wildfires)

• – If Feedback information encourages increased response in the system, it is
• Positive Feedback.(like good reviews affecting ticket sales for a movie) or a
• negative feedback – The Feedback information discourages response in the
• system, (like bad reviews affecting ticket sales), Such negative causes
• self-regulation in a natural system , stabilizing the system.

• As a system opertates, it generates outputs that influence its own operations.
• These outputs function as “information” that is returned to various points in
• the system via pathways called FEEDBACK LOOPS.

• ie. (Figure 1.4 Plant photosenythesis & respiration) The Photosynthesis, plants
• use sunlight as an energy input and material inputs of water nutrients, and
• carbon dioxide. The Photosynthetic process converts these inputs to stored
• chemical energy in the form of plant sugars (carbohydrates). The process also
• releases an ouput from the plant system: the oxygen we breathe.

(No exchange of energy or matter)

• Exchange of Energy but no exchange of matters
• across boundary)

• Exchange of Energy as well as matters across the
• boundaries)

• The Part of the universe whose properties are
• under consideration, The system is separated from the rest of the Universe,
• known as surrounding by a boundary whose properties can be defined.

• 1. The basis of time is that Earth revolves 360º every
• 24 hours, or 15º per hour (360º + 24= 15º). Thus, a time zone of 1 hour is
• established, spanning 7.5º on either side of a central meridian.

• - Assuming it is
• 9:00 P.M. in Greenwich, then it is 4:00 P.M. in Baltimore(+5hr), 3:00 P.M. in
• Oklahoma City (+6hr), 2:00 P.M. in Salt Lake City (+7hr, 1:00P.M. in Seattle
• and Los Angles (+8hr), noon in Anchorage (+9hr), and 11:00 A.M. in Honolulu
• (+10hr).

• 1. An important corollary of the prime meridian is the
• 180º meridian on the opposite side of the planet. This meridian is the
• Ingternational Date Line and Marks the Place where each day officially
• begins(at 12:01 A.M.) From this “Line” the new day sweeps west-ward. This
• westward movement of time is created by Earth’s turning eastward on its axis.

When the temperature decreases with altitude. 3.5º F/1000 ft. 6.4ºC/ 1000m

refers to the passage of shortwave and longwave energy through either the atmosphere or water.

Is the changing of direction of lights movement w/out altering its wavelength

is a portion of energy that bounces directly back into space w/out being absorbed.

is the change in speed and direction of light

is the assimilation of radiation molecules of matter and its conversion from one form of energy to another.

because the lighter blue is being scattered from the visible spectrum because it is a shorter wavelength.

• Clouds are white because their water droplets or ice
• crystals are large enough to scatter the light of the visible spectrum which combines
• to produce white light.

• Blue wavelengths are absorbed the least by the deep ocean
• water and are scattered and reflected back to the observer’s eye.

• Refraction is the bending of a wave when it enters a medium
• where its speed is different. The refraction of light when it passes from a
• fast medium to a slow medium bends the light ray toward the normal to the
• boundary between the two media. The amount of bending depends on the indices of
• refraction of the two media (eg – Mirage is a refraction effect).

• The albedo of an object is the extent to which it reflects
• light, defined as the ratio of reflected to incident electromagnetic radiation.
• It is a unitless measure indicative of a surface's or body's diffuse
• reflectivity.

• Visible energy from the sun passes through the glass and
• heats the ground. Infrared energy from the ground is partly reflected by the
• glass and some is trapped inside the greenhouse.

• Clouds
• absorb and reradiate longwave radiation emitted by Earth; some longwave energy
• returns to space and some is radiated toward the surface.

• A pan of water on the stove illustrates heat transfer.
• Infrared energy radiates from the burner to the saucepan and the air. Energy
• conducts through the molecules of the pan and the handle. The water physically
• mixes, carrying heat energy by convection. The energy in the water and handle
• is measurable as sensible heat. The vapor leaving the surface of the water
• contains the latent heat absorbed in the change of water to water vapor.

• Solar energy cascades through the lower atmosphere where it
• is absorbed, reflected, and scattered. Clouds, atmosphere, and the surface
• reflect 31% of this insolation back to space. Atmospheric gases and dust and
• Earth's surface absorb energy and radiate longwave radiation. Over time, Earth
• emits, on average, 69% of incoming energy to space. When added to Earth's
• average albedo (31%, reflected energy), this equals the total energy input from
• the Sun (100%).

• 1. The ratio of the image ona map to the real world; it
• realtes a unit on the map to a similar unit on the ground. A 1:1 scale means
• that a centimeter on the map represents a centimeter on the ground an
• appropriate scale for a local map is1:24,000, in which 1 unit on the map
• represents 24,000 identical units on the ground., Representative fraction
• – Cartographers express map scale as
• this; with either a colon or a slash, as in 1: 125,000 or 1/125,000.

• •
• Latitude and longitude combine to make a
• grid (geographic grid) that can be used to determine your location on Earth.

• •
• For greater precision, degrees of
• latitude and longitude are divided into 60 minutes (symbolized by '), and
• minutes are divided into 60 seconds (symbolized by ").

• •
• Maps are often marked with parallels and
• meridians. The latitude and longitude of a point are called its coordinates. If
• you know the coordinates, you can use a map to locate any point on Earth.

• Earth’s
• closest position to the Sun (Northern Hemisphere Winter January 3rd)

• 1. Earth’s farthest position to the Sun 152.083
• M km

Or 94.5 M mi (Northern Hemisphere Summer July 4)

the distance between corresponding points on any two successive waves

• The number of waves
• passing a fixed point in 1 second

• UV, X Ray, Gamma Ray=8% ,
• Visible = 47% ,
• Infrared = 45%

• green leaf- reflects green light and absorbs red and blue light, and the amounts of
• light reflected and absorbed are dependent upon the amount of chlorophyll in
• the leaf. ,blue ball etc)

• 1.Daylight (white visible light) is made up of
• numerous waves or impulses each having different dimensions or wavelengths.
• When separated, any single wavelength will produce a specific color impression
• to the human eye. What we actually see as color is known as its color effect. When an object is hit
• (bombarded) with light rays, the object absorbs certain waves and reflects
• others, this determines the color effect.

• Differences in the angle of solar rays at each latitude result in an
• uneven distribution of insolation and heating.)

• Point on earth’s surface which receives insolation perpendicular to the
• surface. During the year this point occur at lower latitude between tropic of
• Cancer and tropic of Capricorn where the energy is more concentrated.

1. All other places away from the subsolar point receiveinsolation at an angle less than 900 and thus experience morediffuse energy.

angle above horizon

• latitude of the Subsolar point. It annually migrates through 470
• of latitude (from Tropic of Cancer to Tropic of Capricorn…Find out the angular
• and physical distance in miles,

• duration of exposure
• to insolation.

• The Earth rotates from west to east or eastword. This cause Sun’s
• apparent daily journey from sunrise in the east and sunset in the waste. Earth rotates on its
• axis once every 24 hours

• A revolution is also called a year. The Earth takes 365.25 days to revolve around the sun. It is during this year or revolution that
• brings Earth it’s seasons,

• • Tilt of
• Earth’s axis ;Axis is tilted 23.5° from plane of ecliptic, Axial
• parallelism Axis maintains alignment during orbit around the Sun North pole points toward the North Star (Polaris)

• The Circle of Illumination is the boundary between
• day and night. The edge of the sunlit hemisphere, which forms a circular
• boundary separating the earth into a light half and a dark half.

• 1. Four days
• during our calendar year — two solstices and two equinoxes — mark the
• beginnings of the four seasons. At the extremes are the winter and summer
• solstices, with the vernal and autumnal equinoxes occupying the midpoints.

• The solstices and equinoxes also mark four important points in Earth's
• orbit around the Sun. It's Earth's position in its orbit — and the orientation
• of its tilted axis at these points in its orbit — that defines the seasons.

• The solstices are six months apart and mark the days when the northern
• and southern hemispheres receive either maximum (summer) or minimum (winter)
• sunshine. In the north, the summer solstice, usually around June 21, is the
• longest day of the year; the winter solstice, six months later, is the shortest
• day of the year.

• The two
• equinoxes occur roughly midway between the solstices: the autumnal equinox in
• September and spring equinox in March. At these times, day and night are
• roughly of equal length.

• 1. Daylength
• is the interval between sunrise and the sunset.

• It is the most obvious way of sensing change in season at latitudes away from the
• equator.

• 1.
• (hetero – not uniform)

– Its gases are not evenly mixed

-- outer atmosphere

• 80
• km (50 mi) outward, to thermosphere

• Layers
• of gases sorted by gravity. It is organized in layers based on the weight of
• gases.

• (homo - uniform)

—It is an even mixture of gases, “air.”

– inner atmosphere

– Surface to 80km (50 mi)

– Gases evenly blended

NITROGEN, OXYGEN, ARGON & CARBON DIOXIDE

• Temperature
• variations in the four layers are due to the way solar energy is absorbed as it
• moves downward through the atmosphere. The Earth’s surface is the primary absorber of
• solar energy. Some of this energy is reradiated by the Earth as heat, which warms the
• overlying troposphere. The global average temperature in the troposphere rapidly
• decreases with altitude until the tropopause, the boundary between the troposphere and
• the stratosphere. The temperature begins to increase with altitude in the stratosphere. This warming is
• caused by a form of oxygen called ozone (O3) absorbing ultraviolet radiation from the
• sun. Ozone protects us from most of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, which can cause
• cancer, genetic mutations, and sunburn. Scientists are concerned that human activity is
• contributing to a decrease in stratospheric ozone. Nitric oxide, which is the exhaust of
• high- flying jets, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are used as refrigerants, may
• contribute to ozone depletion. At the stratopause, the temperature stops increasing with altitude. The overlying
• mesosphere does not absorb solar radiation, so the temperature decreases with altitude.
• At the mesopause, the temperature begins to increase with altitude, and this trend
• continues in the thermosphere. Here solar radiation first hits the Earth’s atmosphere and
• heats it. Because the atmosphere is so thin, a thermometer cannot measure the
• temperature accurately and special instruments are needed.

• Stratospheric
• ozone is found in the
• stratosphere, a layer of air way up in the atmosphere. The stratosphere is
• between 8 and 30 miles above the ground - too far away for you to breathe any
• of its air! The ozone in this layer of air protects plants, animals, and us by
• blocking the most harmful rays of the sun.

• ground-level ozone) is found in the
• tropospheric, which is the layer of air closet to Earth’s surface. The
• troposphere is the air from the ground to about 8 miles up into the
• atmosphere- it’s the air we breathe.
• Ozone does not naturally occur at harmful levels in the troposphere. Our
• ground-level ozone problems are caused by human activities. Read “Hot Summer Days” to learn
• how humans cause “bad ozone”