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Week 3 Assessment
Chapter 5 Questions
An urban
heat island occurs when urban areas experience higher temperatures than rural
ones. Albedo - which measures surface reflectivity - plays a part in
contributing to this effect by decreasing sunlight reflected off surfaces and
increasing absorption rates, leading to urban heat islands (Ward, 2018).
An
increased angle of Earth's tilt would result in greater temperature differences
between seasons, creating more extreme weather patterns characterized by hotter
summers and colder winters in each hemisphere (Ward, 2018).
El
Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a climate pattern marked by changes to sea
surface temperatures and atmospheric pressure that disrupt normal weather
patterns worldwide. It demonstrates the significance of air and water currents
for global heat distribution, as changes to these currents and atmospheric
pressure during ENSO events can wreak havoc with global weather systems (Ward,
2018).
Peru and
Chile's coastal deserts remain deserts even though they lie within the
southward reach of intertropical convergence in summer; this phenomenon can be
attributed to the Andean mountain range's rain shadow effect (Ward, 2018).
Dry
climates tend to cluster around 30oS and 30oN latitudes due to subtropical
high-pressure zones - known as subtropical dry zones - which create descending
dry air currents, restricting precipitation, leading to dry conditions, and
leading to an arid state.
Tropical
soils typically exhibit low fertility due to high rainfall levels and warm
temperatures that contribute to weathering, leaching, and the rapid
decomposition of organic matter found therein - all contributing to low
nutrient retention and low fertility overall (Ward, 2018).
Plowing
soil for agriculture can alter its fertility by disturbing its structure,
exposing it to erosion, and depleting organic matter stores. This may result in
decreased water retention capacity, reduced nutrient loss, and reduced
fertility - thus negatively impacting agricultural productivity (Ward, 2018).
Chapter 6 questions
Cold
temperatures coupled with heavy precipitation are rare in biomes due to air's
limited ability to retain moisture at lower temperatures, leading to less
precipitation overall (Hahn, & Warren, 2009).
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