Ch 14 Earth’s Climate and Biomes Study Guide

Name: ______Date: ______Period: _____

Lesson 1 with Surface Current Map

  1. Terms to know…climate(and how it differs from weather)and climatology ______
  2. What are 3 factors that describe the climate of a location? ______
  3. What are 4 factors that determine the climate of a location? Which is most important? ______
  4. Where is each of the following climate zones located? In general, what temperatures would you experience in each zone?
  5. Tropics ______
  6. Temperate ______
  7. Polar ______
  8. What is the rain shadow effect? ______What does it create on the leeward side of a high mountain range like the Himalayas? ______
  9. How do air masses affect climate? ______
  10. How do ocean currents affect climate? ______
  11. Which current affects our climate? ______California’s? ______
  12. On which coast would you find cold current? ______warm currents?______
  13. How do coastal climates differ from continental (inland) climates? ______How does the differential heating of oceans and continents explain this difference? ______

Lesson 2 with Planet Earth: Pole to Pole…

  1. What scale classifies climates? ______
  2. Know the average temperatures, location by latitude, precipitation and unique characteristics for each of the following climate classes…
  3. Tropical – wet, wet and dry ______
  4. Dry – arid and semi-arid ______
  5. Mild – humid subtropical______
  6. Continental – subarctic ______
  7. Polar – ice cap and tundra ______
  8. Which climate zone, class, and subclass do WE live in? ______
  9. What is a microclimate? Give an example. ______
  10. Are coastal areas cooler or warmer than inland areas in the winter? (Think about the difference in temperature between Clemmons and Wilmington.) Why?
  11. What is a heat island? Give an example. ______
  12. What is a biome? ______What do the terms biotic factors ______and abiotic factors______mean?
  13. What are the unique characteristics of the six biomes? How can you describe the climate of each? What plants and animals live in each? What adaptations must the plants and animals have to survive in each biome? What air mass is each affected by?
  14. Tundra ______
  15. Taiga ______
  16. Deciduous forest ______
  17. Desert ______
  18. Grasslands ______
  19. Rain forest ______
  20. Which biome is most of North Carolina in? ______

Lesson 3: Natural Climate Changes …

  1. What is an ice age? ______
  2. What causes the seasons? ______
  3. What is El Niño? ______
  4. Which current is affected? ______
  5. Which global wind system is involved? ______
  6. How does it affect the California coast? ______The GulfCoast? ______The Atlantic? ______
  7. What are 5natural variations that can lead to changes in Earth’s climate? ______
  8. Why was the Maunder Minimum (Little Ice Age) so cold? ______
  9. Do volcanic eruptions warm or cool the Earth? Why? ______

Lesson 4: Manmade Climate Change – Fact or Fiction?

  1. Do the United Nations IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore think that climate change is natural or manmade?
  2. Do the scientists William Gray, Willie Soon, and Joe Bastardi think that climate change is natural or manmade?
  3. Do the United Nations IPCC and Al Gore think that climate change is caused by carbon dioxide emissions or variations in solar radiation (the sun)?
  4. Do the scientists William Gray, Willie Soon, and Joe Bastardi think that climate change is caused by carbon dioxide emissions or variations in solar radiation?
  5. Do the United Nations IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore (and President Obama) think that the gas carbon dioxideis or is not a toxic pollutant?
  6. Do the scientists William Gray, Willie Soon, and Joe Bastardi think that the gas carbon dioxideis or is not a toxic pollutant?
  7. What evidence do the United Nations IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore use to try to show that climate change is manmade? ______
  8. What evidence do the scientists William Gray, Willie Soon, and Joe Bastardi use to show that climate change is natural? ______
  9. According to the DVD “Solar Cycles”, what is the relationship between warm oceans and carbon dioxide? ______

Lesson 5: Biodiversity with Webquest…

1.What is the biosphere? ______

2.What is biodiversity? ______

  1. What are the levels of biodiversity? ______
  2. Which biome has the most biodiversity? Why? ______
  3. Which biomehasthe least biodiversity? Why? ______

3.What are 5 things that can reduce biodiversity?

  1. Specifically, what is an invasive species? ______How does it impact biodiversity? ______What is an example of an invasive species here in NC? ______
  2. What is overharvesting? ______
  3. What is habitat alteration? ______

4.What impact does the loss of biodiversity have on our society – local and global? ______

5.How can we prevent the loss of biodiversity? List ways below.