QESOSA Tong Kwok Wah Secondary School 2014-2015 S3 Geography
RChanging climate, changing environments R Name: ( ) S.3( )
QESOSA Tong Kwok Wah Secondary School
2014-2015 Secondary THREE Geography
Section 11 Changing climate, changing environments
Contents / Pages
Unit 11.1: What is happening to our climate? / 11.3-11.8
Unit 11.2: How is the global climate changing? / 11.9-11.14
Unit 11.3: What is causing our climate to change? / 11.15-11.24
Unit 11.4: What re the effects of climate chang? / 11.26-11.32
Name ： ______( )
Class ： ______
Unit 11.1: What is happening to our climate?
Key Questions:
1. What is weather and climate?
2. How has the climate of Hong Kong changed in recent decades?
Preparatory task
Find out the meaning of the BOLD words. Write down the definition in Chinese in the boxes below.
Passage A
l The earth is covered by a layer of air called the (1) atmosphere.l Weather refers to the condition of this air layer over a short period of time.
l Climate is the average weather condition over many years.
l The distance at which objects can be seen clearly in the atmosphere is called (2) visibility. If the air contains a lot of dust or tiny suspended particles, visibility will be reduced. (3) Urban development is the main human factor to lower the visibility in Hong Kong while the (4) formation of fog is the natural factor to lower the visibility in Hong Kong.
l (5) Global warming refers to the continuing rise in the average temperature of Earth's. In Hong Kong, the annual mean temperature has increased 1.5 over the past century. There is a clear (6) trend that the climate of Hong Kong has been getting hotter over the past hundred years.
English / Chinese
1. atmosphere
2. visibility
3. urban development
4. formation of fog
5. Global warming
6. trend
1. What is weather and climate?
Task1 : The following figure shows the six key elements of weather. Study the figure and complete
the questions below.
a. / Identify the six key elements shown in the figure.The six key elements are / (i) ______
(ii) ______
(iii) ______
(iv) ______
(v) ______
(vi) ______
b. / Define weather and climate.
l The earth is covered by a layer of air called ______. The conditions of the lowest part of this air layer changes ______.
l Weather refers to the condition of this air layer changes over a short period of time.
l Climate refers to the average weather condition over many years.
c. / Describe the climate of Hong Kong.
l There are ______seasons in Hong Kong including, summer , ______, ______,
and ______.
l Summer is ______and ______while winter is ______and ______.
l Hong Kong is ______.
l Rainfall in Hong Kong is ______.
2. How has the climate of Hong Kong changed in recent decades?
Task 1: The following figure shows the change on annual mean temperature of Hong Kong from
1885 to 2010. Study the figure and complete the questions below.
a. / What is the annual mean temperature of Hong Kong in 1885?The annual mean temperature of Hong Kong in 1885 is ______.
b. / What is the annual mean temperature of Hong Kong in 1947?
The annual mean temperature of Hong Kong in 1947 is ______.
c. / Which year does Hong Kong have the highest annual mean temperature?
Hong Kong has the highest annual mean temperature in ______.
d. / Describe the change ( ) in the annual mean temperature of Hong Kong from 1885 to
2010.
The annual mean temperature of Hong Kong ______from 1885 to 2010.
Task 2: The following figure shows the annual total number of hours with poor visibility at the Hong Kong Observatory Headquarters between 1968 and 2010. Study the figure and complete the questions below.
a. / Define the visibility.Visibility is ______.
(In general, low visibility refers to visibility below ______kilometers.)
b. / Describe the trend ( ) in visibility in Hong Kong between 1968 and 2010.
The visibility ______between ______
but it ______between ______.
c. / What are the causes of the above trend?
l The causes of ______in Hong Kong can be divided into ______and ______factors.
l The main natural factor is ______.
l The main human factor is ______such as (i) ______
(ii) ______
Task 3: Study the following article and complete the questions below.
No winter in Hong Kong in 2030
Under the influence of global climate change, temperature rise of Hong Kong is no exception. According to the projection of the Hong Kong Observatory, the tendency of temperature rise continues
in Hong Kong. It is forecasted that Hong Kong would have no winter in 2030.
Winter is not cold and summer has become hotter and hotter. In the future, Hong Kong will have
long summer and no winter. The temperature in Hong Kong is expected to rise by 4.8°C at the end
of the century. The number of days with temperature of over 33°C will increase to 15. The number of
cold winter days. (i.e. days with temperature of 12°C or below) may be reduced to fewer than one
from 2030 to 2039. If the situation is well-controlled, the time of no winter may be deferred until
2040. However, if the reduction of global carbon emission is unsatisfactory, the earliest time for
warm winter to arrive will be 12 years later. It may happen between 2020 and 2029.
Source: The Hong Kong Observatory
a. / How would the temperature in Hong Kong change?l The temperature in Hong Kong is expected to rise by ______at the end of the century.
l The number of days with temperature of over 33°C will increase to ______days.
l The number of cold winter days may be reduced to ______.
b. / What problems would a change in temperature bring to Hong Kong?
l It will ______. When the sea level of Hong Kong rises, it may flood the lowland in Hong Kong.
l It will ______. The rising temperature will accelerate evapotranspiration. The weather becomes drier. More hill fires result.
l It will ______. Migratory birds from the north will lose their habitats in winter. Besides, it will lead to coral beaching. The diversity of ecology will adverse.
c. / What are the reasons for the climate changed in Hong Kong?
The reasons are ______and ______.
Task 4: Besides temperature and visibility, there are other changes to Hong Kong’s climate. The following
table describes the other changes. Complete the table.
Other changes in Hong Kong’s climatePrecipitation / l The annual rainfall has increases ______.
l Days of heavy rain (with more than 30mm per hour) have increased by ______day per ten years between 1947 and 2010.
Wind speed / l The average wind speed has decreased from 0.6 m/s in 1968 to ______in 2009.
Cloud cover and solar radiation / l The cloud cover has increased ______.
l Increased cloud cover blocks sunlight and therefore solar radiation ______.
Evaporation / l With reduced solar radiation and slower wind speeds, evaporation ______.
Number of hot nights / l The annual number of hot night has increased with _____days/10 years.
Extreme weather conditions / l The number of days with thunderstorm has risen by _____/ 10 year from 1947 to 2009.
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