BIOLOGY 2F03 Lecture 6: Lecture 6
Document Summary
Sonoran desert: air temperature, 40 degrees= deadly, ground 70 degrees= fatal (usually for animals in the dessert), but an insect called cicada sits on tree branches and sings": Predators can-not cope with the weather, but it can sit under branches in the shade (see below)- they can cope with the temperatures. Graph: saturation vapor density (g/m^3): water vapor in air can be measured either as grams of vapor per cubic meter per air, or by the pressure exerted by the water vapor in the air. If we cool the air, the water will precipitate. If there is little water to start with and the air warms up (warming wet air) creates dry situations. Along the line, air is saturated, so irrespective of the temperature it is still warm (cooling effect is usually not present) Evaporation cools (energy used): when sweating, water is lost as vapour, and must be replenished through drinking and absorption.