♥ Friday, May 29, 2009 ♥
Heyhey!
Sorry for the lag post and all :/
Anywayyy! Time to summarise the entire module! Basically, we covered 2 major spheres in this module: atmosphere &hydrosphere (:
For atmosphere:
Basically, we learnt about the composition of air -78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% other gases and learnt how oxygen is important to sustain life because it is reactive and forms compounds with various elements, allow humans to use it for respiration and life processes. Such a composition is ideal to sustain life.
Later, we learnt delved deeper into the presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (0.03%) though the carbon cycle. Basically, we learnt that carbon dioxide is taken in by plants, then, as the plants & animals decompose, they give off carbon. Also, as they respire, carbon dioxide is given out. If dead plants & animals do not fully decompose they will form fossil fuels, storing carbon in the earth. Carbon dioxide is dissolved in the ocean as well, providing aquatic plants with energy. From this, we realize that plants & animals give off carbon when they respire and decompose, while plants take in carbon dioxide via photosynthesis and carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean as well to allow aquatic plants to respire.
We also learnt how man’s actions have interfered with the carbon cycle, thus, resulting in an increase in global warming as well. E.g. deforestation: results in less trees and thus, less carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, increasing carbon dioxide levels and thus, increasing the amount of greenhouse gases, thus, resulting in global warming.
Then, we went on to learn about rain: frontal, relief and convectional rain. Essentially, frontal rain occurs when either warm air meets a cold front, or when cold air meets a warm front, resulting in the warm air rising and thus, adiabatic cooling occurs and it rains. Relief rain occurs when air is forced to rise when it meets a relief (e.g. mountain) causing adiabatic cooling, and rain to form on the windward side (facing sea) thus causing the leeward side (facing away from sea) to be dry. This may allow for the formation of deserts. Lastly, convectional rain is simply warm air rising and thus resulting in adiabatic cooling, and thus, rain. (:
Then, we learnt how to interpret climographs. Basically, its just describing how warm&wet a place is based on the data provided.
From the lesson on climographs, we realized that different countries have different climates, why is this the case? This is where the global air circulation model comes into play. Essentially, the global air circulation model looks like this!
which then results in the various different climates in the world, as well as the formation of deserts between the hadley cell and the ferrel cell. This is because air at the ferrel cell moves upwards while air at the hadley cell moves downwards, resulting in no adiabatic cooling occuring, and thus, no rain formation, making that area dry, and thus, forming a desert. * deserts are also formed due to relief rain (:
essentially, that concludes the atmosphere component!
:D:D:D
....now moving onto the HYDROSPHERE, which will be continued in the next post.
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oh my dear,you should have posted it earlier.i mean...before the test T.T
ah..i died already.
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Thank you for summarising such a lot information into short point form. It is quite useful for us to recap all the things we have learnt so far. Such as the composition of atmosphere, carbon cycle, formation of season and weather, as well as the formation of desert.
Furthermore, this post is like the miniskirt, it's not much, but covers the most important part. It is not only brief, but also complete. :) Thank you.
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oh my dear,you should have posted it earlier.i mean...before the test T.T
ah..i died already.