ENVIRSC 1C03 Weather and Climate Study Guide

ENVIRSC 1C03 Study Sheet

• The document is a study sheet for ENVIRSC 1C03
• Contains study materials for different weeks (2-4, 5-9, 10-13) covering various topics, including GIS
• A glossary is included starting on page 14

Week 2 - 4

• Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a specific time and place, including temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind, and visibility
• Weather influences daily activities and agriculture, as well as transportation and infrastructure.
• It plays a crucial role in disaster management and preparedness.
• Climate is the average weather conditions over a long period (typically 30 years or more) in a particular region.
• Climate determines biodiversity and ecosystems, and informs policies for addressing climate change and guides urban planning and agriculture.
• Weather is short-term and variable atmospheric conditions
• Climate is long-term trends and averages in atmospheric patterns
• Key elements include temperature, precipitation, humidity, air pressure, wind, and solar radiation
• Atmospheric Hazards: Hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods, and heatwaves

Week 5 - 9

• Humidity variation decreases with distance from the equator
• Specific Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air, measured in grams per kilogram of air.
• Air saturation happens when the excess water vapor condenses into clouds, dew, or precipitation.
• Relative Humidity is calculated as (actual water vapor content/saturation water vapor content) x 100%
• Atmospheric moisture influences weather patterns, agriculture, and climate systems.
• Atmospheric Stability refers to the tendency of air parcels to rise or sink
• Absolutely stable air occurs when the environmental lapse rate (ELR) is less than the moist adiabatic lapse rate (MALR).
• Absolutely unstable air occurs when the ELR exceeds the dry adiabatic lapse rate (DALR).
• Orographic uplift causes air to cool and lead to cloud formation and precipitation as air is forced over mountain ranges.
• Warmer air can hold more water vapor, increasing saturation vapor pressure.
• Relative Humidity changes in nature through temperature changes, water vapor addition/removal, and condensation/evaporation.
• Dew-point temperature indicates the temperature at which air becomes saturated, while relative humidity measures the current saturation level.

Week 10 - 13

• Overdrawing Groundwater leads to land subsidence, depletion of aquifers impacting ecosystems and agriculture, and salinisation of soils caused by irrigation in arid regions.
• It decreases agricultural productivity and promotes desertification.
• Groundwater is subsurface water filling voids in soils and rocks, found in aquifers, recharge zones, and groundwater flow systems.
• Eutrophication is nutrient enrichment in water bodies leading to algal blooms and anoxia/hypoxia, which in turn disrupts ecosystems and leads to dead zones.
• Eutrophication requires solutions like improved sewage treatment and controlling agricultural runoff.
• Nutrient cycles include carbon (respiration, combustion, and photosynthesis), phosphorus (mined, used in fertilizers, and returned to soil through decay), and nitrogen (fixed by bacteria, used in agriculture, and contributes to eutrophication).

GIS

• A platform for managing, analyzing, and applying geographic data
• Function includes insight (analysis), record (data management), and engagement (interaction)
• Tackles environmental issues like air pollution, climate change, water quality, land degradation, biodiversity loss and social issues like inequality, poverty, food insecurity, and sustainability.
• Applications like Air Quality Monitoring (Road Dust Mapping) and Climate Change & Land Degradation are provided
• Social impacts studies like Code Red (Hamilton) are also included in the pages

Glossary

• Contains definitions for various terms including Adiabatic Processes, Orographic Uplift, Groundwater, Eutrophication, Anoxia/Hypoxia, Water Balance, Palmer Drought Index, Soil Horizons, Soil Texture, Stokes Law, Liming Problem, Species Richness, Species Diversity, Biogeographical Similarity, Atmospheric Pressure, Adiabatic Lapse Rate, Bioaccumulation, Biomagnification, Assimilative Capacity, El Niño, Thermohaline Circulation, Ecological Footprint, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), Stefan-Boltzmann Law, and Wien's Law.