BIO120H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Hadley Cell, Northern Hemisphere, Thermohaline Circulation
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BIO120H1 Full Course Notes
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4. 0 variation in the environment: climate, water, and soil. 4. 1 global patterns in temperature and precipitation are established by solar radiation. The density of incoming photons is highest at the solar equator: where the light hits perpendicular to the earth"s surface. Equator is tilted 23 : northern hemisphere receives more light than southern hemisphere during northern summer. Warming air expands, becomes less dense, and tends to rise. 10 15 kilometers above the earth"s surface, it begins to spread to the north and south toward higher latitudes. Rising tropical air mass cools 30 n and s of equator. Becomes dense enough to fall back onto the earth"s surface. Intertropical convergence the region at the solar equator where surface currents of air meet and begin to rise under the warming influence of the sun. Thermohaline circulation a global pattern of surface and deep- water currents driven by differences in the density of water caused by variations in temperature and salinity.
