Melissa+Y.

Topic Four: Describe how natural phenomena can affect climate (eg. Biosphere processes, volcanic eruptions, Coriolis effect, El Nino and La Nina)

The climate of the earth has been changing over long term, and has respect to anything from average temperature, to the amount of extreme weather events that occur. There are many contributing factors as to why the climate is going through such a rapid change, which can consist of: living things, volcanic eruptions, Coriolis effect, El Niño, and La Niña.

Living Things: Living things on Earth such as plants and animals all have an affect on the climate. Many different types of vegetation use photosynthesis in order to produce their energy. In this process, sunlight combines carbon dioxide and water in order to make sugar and oxygen for the plant to survive off of. Although this may seem harmless, carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and the plants that use photosynthesis also take more carbon dioxide out of the air than they put back. Greenhouse gases can greatly affect the temperature of our planet, and without them, Earth’s average temperature would rise to about 33 degrees Celsius. Volcanic Eruptions: Volcanic Eruptions are common phenomena, especially along the boundaries of tectonic plates. An eruption is caused by an opening in the planet’s surface or crust, which allows ash, harmful gases, and hot magma into the atmosphere. When the troposphere is filled which particles, it becomes very difficult for thermal energy from the sun to reach the surface. Such an occurrence has an affect on Earth’s albedo, (the amount of solar radiation reflected by a surface) and results in the cooling of our troposphere. The particles of ashes and other chemicals located in the lower atmosphere can also absorb heat radiated up from the earth, therefore warming the stratosphere.

Coriolis effect: The Coriolis effect describes the bending of winds, patterns of ocean currents, as well as anything else that moves freely across Earth’s surface, due to the Earth’s rotation on it’s axis. This specific circulation can also be directly related to the climate of the Earth, in any area. This rotation decides on which parts of the Earth receive the most energy, and the most heat. The Coriolis effect help the process of heat transfer, as warm water and air from the tropics rises, and falls when it get toward the poles.

El Niño: El Nino, a warm ocean current, occurs in result of unusual trade wind patterns near the equator. These trade winds are reversed during El Nino years, and cold water is prevented from upwelling, in which warmer waters are moved toward the coast of South America and water temperatures are raised. Changes in El Nino also result in the warming of oceans and temperatures of the eastern equatorial Pacific. During an El Nino, there is also increasing moisture because of the clouds formed above. La Nina: La Nina, a cooling of the surface water of the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, occurs less often than El Nino. La Nina is the result of trade winds blowing stronger than usual, which contributes to the warmer surface water moving west which can increase the upwelling of cold water. The colder water temperatures bring cooler air temperatures to the north and west of North America. Since most moisture and clouds are pushed away by the trade winds, places such as Florida, Texas, and other states near the Gulf of Mexico experience dryer weather.

Bibliography: __ http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climate/cli_biosphere.html __ [] [] [] [] [] [] []