Urban Heat Island and Microclimates

The phenomenon where cities experience significantly higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas.

Reduced evaporation of water from surfaces in urban areas due to impervious surfaces (e.g., concrete, asphalt).

Urban materials (e.g., asphalt, concrete, metals) absorb and retain heat more than natural surfaces like soil or vegetation.

Reduced air movement (wind) in cities limits the ability to dissipate heat from urban surfaces.

Buildings and materials in cities absorb and re-emit longwave radiation, reducing the amount of heat lost to the atmosphere at night.

Wind patterns created by temperature differences between mountain slopes and valley floors. During the day, warm air rises up the mountain slopes creating a valley wind. At night, cold air flows down the slopes creating a mountain wind.

Climate change caused by human activities, primarily through the emission of greenhouse gases.

Essential requirements for human survival, including oxygen, water, food, shelter, clothing, and sanitation.

Climate change directly threatens the availability and accessibility of resources like water, food, and suitable living conditions, which are essential for human survival.

A significant and lasting change in the average weather patterns over long periods (decades to millions of years). This can be a change in average conditions or the frequency of extreme events.

Data sets representing climate conditions (temperature, precipitation, etc.) over a specific area and time period.

Indirect indicators used to study past climates by analyzing natural records like ice cores, tree rings, and ocean sediments.

Weather refers to short-term, day-to-day changes in atmospheric conditions. Climate describes long-term average weather patterns over at least 30 years.

An apparent force that deflects moving objects to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. Its strength increases with latitude and wind speed.

The Coriolis force is zero at the equator because the Earth's rotation causes purely translational movement of the surface.

The Coriolis force is maximum at the poles because the Earth's rotation causes purely rotational movement of the surface.

A force that slows wind speed, especially within the boundary layer (up to 500 meters above the surface). It decreases with height.

Rougher surfaces cause more friction, while smoother surfaces cause less. Forests have higher friction compared to ice or snow.

Winds that flow parallel to isobars (lines of equal pressure) when the pressure gradient force and Coriolis force are balanced. They occur above the boundary layer where friction is negligible.

Winds that are affected by friction and are deflected from the pressure gradient force, causing them to cross isobars at an angle. They spiral inward in cyclones and outward in anticyclones.

Winds caused by temperature differences between land and water masses. Land breezes blow from land to sea at night, and sea breezes blow from sea to land during the day.

Winds that blow from the sea to land during the day, caused by the land being warmer than the sea.

Winds that blow from the land to the sea at night, caused by the land being cooler than the sea.

Physical geography is divided into biogeography, climatology, and geomorphology.

A planet must orbit the Sun, have enough mass to be round, and clear its orbit of other objects.

The terrestrial planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. These planets are primarily composed of rock and metal.

The jovian planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These planets are primarily composed of gas.

The Acasta Gneiss, found in Northwest Territories, Canada, is the oldest dated rock on Earth, at 3.96 billion years old.

Endogenic processes are internal processes within the Earth, powered by radioactive decay. Examples include mountain building, earthquakes, and volcanoes.

Exogenic processes are external processes driven by solar energy, including the movement of air, water, and ice. Examples include erosion and weathering.

Endogenic processes are driven by internal Earth heat, while exogenic processes are driven by external solar energy.

Areas where one tectonic plate slides beneath another, causing volcanic activity and earthquakes.

Areas where new oceanic crust is formed as magma rises from the mantle and cools.

Volcanic areas located over mantle plumes, where hot magma rises from deep within the Earth.

Gentle volcanic eruptions with low-viscosity magma, often associated with sea-floor spreading and hot spots.

Violent volcanic eruptions with high-viscosity magma, typically found in subduction zones.

Large, dome-shaped volcanoes formed by effusive eruptions of basaltic lava, with gentle slopes and wide bases.

Tall, cone-shaped volcanoes built up by layers of lava and tephra, often found in subduction zones.

Small, steep-sided volcanoes formed by the accumulation of tephra, often with a single vent.

Rocks formed from the cooling and solidification of molten rock (magma or lava).

Rocks formed from the accumulation and cementation of sediments (fragments of other rocks, minerals, or organic matter).

Rocks formed when existing rocks (igneous, sedimentary, or other metamorphic rocks) are transformed by heat, pressure, or chemically active fluids.

The continuous process of rocks changing from one type to another through various geological processes like weathering, erosion, deposition, heat, pressure, and melting.

The theory that Earth's continents have moved over geological time, initially proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912.

The theory explaining the movement of Earth's lithosphere (crust and upper mantle) through the interaction of giant plates.

The areas where tectonic plates meet and interact, resulting in various geological phenomena like earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation.

A boundary where two tectonic plates collide, resulting in one plate subducting (diving) under the other.

A boundary where two tectonic plates move apart, creating new crust.

A boundary where two tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally.