BIO120H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Hadley Cell, Jet Stream, Vapor Pressure
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BIO120H1 Full Course Notes
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4. 0 variation in the environment: climate, water and soil. Physical climate is the principal determinant of whether a particular organism can possibly live in a particular part of the world or not: e. g. sunlight distribution based on latitudinal gradients, precipitation. Changes in climate can be traced to changes in solar radiation, patterns of ocean circulation, albedo of earth"s surface, shapes and positions of earth"s ocean basins, continents, and mountain ranges. Physical and biological processes can establish new patterns of variation as outcome of unpredictable interactions among components. Differences in temp, light, substratum, moisture, salinity, soil nutrients and others have shaped distributions and adaptations of organisms. Climate zones determined by patterns of solar radiation and redistribution of heat and moisture by wind and water currents: within are geologic factors like topography and composition of bedrock. 4. 1 global patterns in temperature and precipitation are established by solar radiation.
