Tornadoes

Tornado Formation
In tornado alley, twisters are normally caused when warm, humid winds from the Gulf of Mexico move north and collide with cool, dry air from the west


















As the warm air and colder winds collide, they begin an invisible horizontal rotation.
Energy from the sun warms the ground, which in turn warms the air near it. This warm air then rises even further.
This warm air pushes itself upwards through the colder air and starts to form a vortex.
This then forms into the fully-fledged funnel of a tornado.


















Elie, MAnitoba tornado, June 22, 2007

Tropical Storms and Hurricanes

Extremely strong tropical storms go by a number of different names, depending on
where they occur. Over the Atlantic and the eastern Pacific they are known as hurricanes.
Those over the extreme western Pacific are called typhoons; those over the
Indian Ocean and Australia are cyclones.

Hurricanes obtain most of their energy from the latent heat released by condensation and are most
common where a deep layer of warm water fuels them. August and September are the prime hurricane months
in the Northern Hemisphere, while January to March is the main season in the Southern Hemisphere.


The hurricane eye is a region of relatively clear skies, slowly descending air, and light winds.
Along the margin of the eye lies the eye wall, the zone of most intense storm activity with
the strongest winds, thickest cloud cover, and most intense precipitation of the entire hurricane.
























Hurricanes form only where the ocean has a deep
surface layer with temperatures above 27 °C (81 °F).
The need for warm water precludes hurricane formation
poleward of about 20 degrees because
sea surface temperatures are usually too low there.

Storm surge is a rise in water level induced by the hurricane.
Strong winds blowing toward a coast force surface waters
landward and thereby elevate sea level. Low atmospheric
pressure in a hurricane also contributes to the storm surge.
For every millibar of pressure decrease,
the water level rises 1 cm.

Three's Activity

Three's Activity for Friday December 5, 2008
Tosan - Internet
Jennifer - Newspaper
Henrique - Book

Fronts

A cold front occurs when a wedge of cold air advances toward the warm air ahead of it.
A warm front represents the boundary of a warm air mass moving toward a cold one.
A stationary front differs in that neither air mass has recently undergone substantial movement.
Occluded fronts appear at the surface as the boundary between two polar air masses, with a colder polar air mass usually advancing on a slightly warmer air mass.

Mid-Latitude Storms

Mid-Latitude storms are weather systems that:
- Bring rain to Canadian regions.
- Extend from 25º to 50º latitude.
- Form the area where cold A air masses meet moist, warm m air masses.
- When two masses collide, storms are born.

Air Masses
Air masses are bodies of air that develop over large areas of the earth’s surface
Two conditions are necessary for formation:
Source region – air must stay over an region for long period of time
The air must be stable
Air masses take on characteristics of the region
Warm maritime air masses – formed over water
Cold continental air masses – formed over land

The five types of North American air masses are:
Continental Tropical (cT)
Maritime Tropical (mT)
Maritime Polar (mP)
Continental Polar (cP)
Arctic (A)

Question 5 Page 282

Additional Questions:

1. What patterns exist in Figure 16.2?
2. Why are there no air masses in equatorial zones?
3. Using a map outline of North America draw in the air masses and indicate regions where the storms would likely occur.

Three's Activity

Three's Activity for Monday, December1, 2008
Ronan - Internet
Kyung - Newspaper
Henry- Book

Microclimates

Exposure – refers to influence of wind on temperature and humidity.
–Wind chill refers to how cold the temperature feels to people because of the wind.

Albedo refers to the amount of light a surface reflects.
–Low albedo – dark surfaces
–High albedo – light surfaces.

Heat island describes the increased mean temperature of the cities.

Weather and Climate

•Weather - All atmospheric activities that occur at a given place at a given time
–Day to day changes


















•Climate – Also refers to the same activities.
–Different time scale
–Usual atmospheric conditions a place has over a long period of time.

Class Assessment

1) Notebooks.
2) Blogs.
3) Group Presentations (December 11, and 12, 2008).
4) Homework.
5) Test (December 10, 2008).

Classroom Project:

The class will be divided into groups of three. Each group must choose a relevant topic from the list provided. Each group will present to the class.

Topics to consider:

• The Atmosphere
• Solar Energy
• The Coriolis Effect
• How weather affect us?
• Tornadoes
• Hurricanes
• The Jet Stream
• Weather forecasting
• Acid deposition
• Global warming

Requirements:
1. Each group will present to the class (10 minutes allowed for presentation, 5 minutes Q&A).
2. Each person in the group needs to take responsibility for presenting some portion of the presentation.
3. Each group is required to provide a one page handout, available to all students, with a synopsis of the topic presented.
4. Each group is required to conduct some background research on the topic.

Be able to outline the highlights of the subject in terms of:
- Topics significance.
- Why do you think this is an important topic in the first place?
- Include personal opinions as well as research-supported ideas/statistics.
- How the topic directly affects students.

Possible ways of presenting the content:
Microsoft PowerPoint presentation
Pamphlets
Collages
Media articles

Project Groups and Topics
Group 1: Avinash, James, Ian
Group 2: Rodrigo, Barbara, Matias
Group 3: Alexandria, Jennifer, Ana
Group 4: Carly, Michelle, Raelene
Group 5: Henrique, Guilherme, Nikki
Group 6: Henry, Daniela, Brent
Group 7: David, Roger, Pedro
Group 8: Kyung, Ronan, Tosan

Presentations will take place on December 11th and 12th, 2008.

Three's Activity

Three's activity for Thursday, November 27, 2008
Anna - Internet
Brent - Newspaper
David - Book

Giant meteor lights up the western sky

A bright light lit up the sky around 5:30 MT Thursday evening in Western Canada, with people reporting sightings in Alberta and Saskatchewan.












Picture taken by Andy Bartlett from Edmonton.
Watch the meteor on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSL3b6bCR7s

Homework

Homework due November 24th, 2008
1. Finish questions 5 and 6 from pages 238-239.
2. Kinetic energy - Winds - define 3 key words.
3. Write your personal reflection based on chapter 14.

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4 Seasons

The summer solstice
–first day of summer
–the longest day of the year
–North Pole is leaning more directly toward the sun
–Northern Hemisphere is warmed by more direct sunlight and days are long and hot.

The winter solstice
–the first day of winter
–the shortest day of the year
–North Pole is leaning away from the sun
–Northern Hemisphere receives only indirect sunlight; that is why winter is so much colder than summer.

The autumnal equinox is the first day of autumn and occurs when the North Pole begins to lean away from the sun.

The vernal equinox is the first day of spring and occurs when the North Pole begins to lean toward the sun again.

Three's Activity

Three's activity for Friday, November 21, 2008
James – Newspaper
Pedro – Book
Carly - Internet

Ozone Depletion

Ozone is a gas made of oxygen atoms.
–O2 - two oxygen atoms - ordinary common or garden oxygen
–O3 - three oxygen atoms - Ozone

Most of the ozone on earth isn't on earth at all, but in the layer of the earth's atmosphere called the stratosphere.

Why is a ozone hole a problem?
Ozone in the stratosphere benefits to life on earth
–absorbs the harmful ultra-violet light from the sun while letting other light wavelengths through.

Too much ultra-violet light can result in:
–Skin cancer Eye damage such as cataracts
– Immune system damage
–Reduction in phytoplankton in the oceans that forms the basis of all marine food chains including those in Antarctica.
–Damage to the DNA in various life-forms So far this has been as observed in Antarctic ice-fish that lack pigments to shield them from the ultra-violet light (they've never needed them before)
– Probably other things too that we don't know about at the moment.


Why does a ozone hole form over Antarctica?
The ozone hole is caused by the effect of pollutants in the atmosphere destroying stratospheric ozone. During the Antarctic winter something special happens to the Antarctic weather.
–Firstly, strong winds blowing around the continent form "polar vortex" - this isolates the air over Antarctica from the rest of the world.
–Secondly, special clouds form called Polar Stratospheric Clouds.


















Polar Stratospheric Cloud, seen from the NASA DC-8 on 14 January 2003
(photograph by Paul Newman, GSFC).
























Assimilated total ozone September 25th, 2006.

Joseph Kittinger

Falling back to Earth...................alone


















"Lord, take care of me now...." Aug. 16, 1960.
Joe Kittinger jumps from Excelsior III at 102,800 ft. USAF Photo.


















Joe landed in a heap, but got up and greeted his crew, saying, "I am very glad to be back with you all!" His right hand was swollen to twice its normal size, but he recovered. Joe Kittinger walked away from Excelsior III with 3 world records-highest open-gondola balloon ride, longest freefall, & longest parachute descent. In Oct. 1960, President Eisenhower awarded Joe the Harmon Trophy for outstanding achievements in aeronautics. USAF Photo.

Homework Assignment

Homework is due on Monday, November 17th, 2008
1. Open an Gmail account from http://www.google.com/,
2. Using the google account's username and password sign up for blog @ http://www.blogger.com/,
3. Create your new blog for our geography class,
4. Send your blog address to Mr.P,
5. Write up few paragraphs about the movie we have watched in class and post it on your blog.

Three's Activity

Monday, November 17th, 2008.

Rodrigo - Book
Nikki - Newspaper
Raelene - Internet

E-mail communication

If you have questions or concerns please click here to send me an e-mail.

Properties of the Atmosphere

Components and characteristics of the atmosphere

The first 40 to 50 mi (64–80 km) above the earth contains 99% of the total mass of the earth's atmosphere and is generally of a uniform composition, except for a high concentration of ozone, known as the ozone layer, at 12–30 mi (19–50 km).

The lower atmosphere contains varying amounts of water vapor, which determine its humidity.
The air also carries many kinds of dust of meteoric as well as terrestrial origin.
Various gaseous and solid impurities resulting from human activity (pollution).
CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons) – chemically stable gases used in air conditioners and refrigerators.

Properties of the atmosphere:

•nitrogen, 78.09%
•oxygen, 20.95%
•argon, 0.93%
•carbon dioxide, 0.03%
•traces of neon, helium, methane, krypton, hydrogen, xenon, and ozone.

Layers of the atmosphere.


















Retrieved on November 13th, 2008 from http://ds9.ssl.berkeley.edu/lws_gems/3/graph_1.htm

Unit 4: The Air Above: Understanding the Atmosphere

Unit 4: The air above: Understanding the Atmosphere introduces us to the properties associated with atmosphere. The general concepts found in this section are:

• The energy above: properties of the atmosphere (chapter 14),
• Introducing weather and climate (chapter 15),
• Tornadoes, hurricanes and other storms (chapter 16),
• Forecasting the weather (chapter 17),
• Acid deposition: a regional issue (chapter 18), and
• Climate change: a global issue (chapter 19).
  

Unit 3: The Water all Around: Understanding the Hydrosphere

Unit 3: The Water all Around: Understanding the Hydrosphere describes the hydrosphere - the sphere composed of water. Evolving along with the atmosphere from gases emitted from the litosphere, water takes many forms. The oceans, the incredible movement of glaciers, and the life-giving movement of surface water across the planet are all addressed. The general concepts in this section are:

• Water: the Ultimate Shape-Shifter (chapter 10),
• Water in Oceans and Seas (chapter 11),
• Water in Rivers, Lakes, and Wetlands (chapter 12), and
• The Cryosphere: Studies in Ice and Snow (chapter 13).

Unit 2: The Ground Beneath our Feet: Understanding the Lithosphere

Unit 2: The Ground Beneath our Feet: Understanding the Lithosphere deals with the lithosphere - the first part of our planet to start forming after the solar system was created. The text explores the incredible forces behind plate tectonics and erupting volcanoes, as well as the processes that wear mountains down to flat plains. The general concepts found in this unit are:

• Continents Adrift (chapter 4),
• Movers and Shakers: How landforms are created (chapter 5),
• Earth's Treasure Trove: Elements, Minerals, and Rocks (chapter 6),
• Wearing Down the Land from Above (chapter 7),
• The Work of Wind and Water (chapter 8), and
• Ice Sculpting the Landscape (chapter 9).
  
  
  

Unit 1: The Earth: A Vibrant Planet

Unit 1: The Earth: A Vibrant Planet examines our beginning as a planet, as well as the importance of the sun for our energy systems and our ultimate survival. The general concepts found in this section are:

• The birth of Planet Earth (chapter 1),
• Earth, from Core to Crust (chapter 2), and
• How Energy Gets the Ball Rolling (chapter 3).
  

Welcome students of the REC, grade 11,
to the Geography 30S, Earth Does Matter blog.

Please check our blog frequently for updates, discussions, and comments.
If you would like to contact me directly, please click here to send me an email.

Introduction

According to the Social Studies curriculum document, provided by the Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth, the contemporary approach to physical geography education emphasizes the nature of earth systems and their interactions with each other and with humans, ecological patterns, environmental issues, and the limitations that the physical world places on human activities and, in turn, the impact of human activities on the physical world. When considered within this new approach, the study of physical geography is both timely and relevant in view of the global challenges facing humankind on Planet Earth.

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