BSC 2011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Intertropical Convergence Zone, Gaspard-Gustave De Coriolis, Ocean Current

• School: University of Florida
• Department: Biology - Biological Sciences
• Course: BSC 2011
• Professor: Norman Douglas, Nicole Gerlach, Todd Palmer

Document Summary

Physical factors that drive the distribution of organisms at the global scale: light, temperature, precipitation. Global climate is driven by: sunlight. Sunlight is more intense at tropical latitudes. As air rises and cools it loses moisture, causing it to rain a lot: movement of the planet, atmospheric and ocean circulation. Air moving upward at the equator creates the inter-tropical convergence zone (itcz: between 0oc to 30oc both n and s, dry cold air is dense, so as it begins to fall it picks up moisture. Trade winds form because the earth is spherical. Affects ocean circulation: large scale gyres are driven by coriolis forces, shallow currents are driven by prevailing winds, changes in ocean circulation can have huge impacts on climate. A big cause of variation in temperature and precipitation regimes in some years. El ni o happens every 2 -7 years. Global climate is modified to produce regional climate. Landmasses: heats faster than the oceans, monsoons and land-sea breezes.