Earth's Surface Lab

B. Why is it colder at the poles than at the equator? The reason why is because the Sun’s rays hit those areas with the least amount of rays. They are also faced away from the sun the most compared the other areas meaning they will get the least of the Sun’s rays.

Answer. I mentioned in question 2(b) that parts of Brazil because of the location near and right on the equator and the reason being is because twice in a year the sun's rays are vertical at the equator. Thus, the temperature is uniformly high in the equatorial region, and the annual range of temperature is negligible. (Rajan, 2012). The equatorial region experience so little winter cooling because of this. (Hess, 2011).

Also, I will hold the test tube by the tip. If I were to grab the test tube with my whole hand, my body heat would be passed onto the test tube causing a temperature increase. Therefore, not creating a reliable set of results.

More sunlight reaches the equator of the planet causing a correlation between UV intensity and latitude.

1. As latitude increases, the intensity of the solar energy that strikes an area decreases, and climates become cooler.

Climate change is evident throughout the world and is a major issue. It is no secret that our planet is getting warmer. Global warming is now recognized in the scientific community as a real problem. There are multiple aspects that are causing this issue. Majority of the warming is caused by greenhouse gases. Volcanic eruptions and changes in the intensity of solar radiation have offset the warming partially. It is estimated that average annual temperatures will increase 3.5°F-9.5°F by the century’s end.

Because the Earth's axis is tilted specifically at 23½°, solar radiation hits the surface at varying angles, creating inconsistent energy densities at different latitudes (Fry, 2010, p. 26). Basically, the tilt causes the sun's direct light, or energy, to hit the planet at varying angles. The flashlight demonstration in the video “Earth's Tilt 1: The Reason for the Seasons” excellently shows how the same amount of light hits the earth at one time; the tilt of the earth decides at what angle the light hits the specific area that it is hitting.

Throughout history climates have drastically changed. There have been shifts from warm climates to the Ice Ages (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2009, p.204). Evidence suggests there have been at least a dozen abrupt climate changes throughout the history of the earth. There are a few suspected reasons for these past climate changes. One reason may be that asteroids hitting the earth and volcanic eruptions caused some of them. A further assumption is that 22-year solar magnetic cycles and 11-year sunspot cycles played a part in the changes. A further possibility is that a regular shifting in the angle of the moon orbiting earth causing changing tides and atmospheric circulation affects the global climate (Cunningham & Cunningham, 2009,

The Southern Hemisphere is warmer in December, January, and February because it receives more solar energy than does the Northern Hemisphere. During, June, July, and August the opposite is true; the Northern Hemisphere receives more solar energy and is warmer. This is due to the spherical shape of the planet, due to which sun is nearly overhead at equator than at high latitude therefore warmest. Thus, temperature varies with latitude from the warm Equator to the cold poles.

It has been observed through various researches that in the last century, average temperatures across the globe increased by over 1.3°F with an increase of more than two times in the Arctic. (Bates, Kundzewicz, Wu, & Palutikof, June 2008). The results of climate change can also be seen in changing precipitation patterns, increases in ocean temperatures, changes in the sea level, and acidity and melting of glaciers and sea ice (USEPA, 2014).

Extreme climate change is crucial to understand and prominently discovering resolutions is essential to better our environment. This is calculated by the reading of satellites and several other forms of measurements. The two different remarks made from the 19th century and the 1950s era, concluded the various prolonged transformations on the ocean, air and terrestrial surface. It has been proven over the years the warming of the surface has occurred, nonetheless the whole earth had experienced this warming. The last thirty years has been the warmest time era in comparison to the last fourteen hundred years. It has been noticed not only the warming of the surface of the land but also the decline of snow, upsurge of sea altitudes and gas concentration.

The white paper is representative of the snow and ice in the poles. It takes longer for it to melt when above freezing the black is representative of the water surrounding the ice, it melts much quicker with the black than the white. This is the same as what is happening at the poles, before it wasn’t melting as fast because there was a lot of white snow and ice, but as the ice and snow melts more water is revealed. As more water is revealed the ice starts to melt faster and more water is revealed creating a positive feedback loop.

The temperature is based on how far or how close the earth is to the sun.The earth’s climate and the winds in the atmosphere continue to change every day. Every year the winds change causing different weather patterns to act on the solid earth. The earth’s spin axis is tilted at 23.5 with respect to the elliptic giving moderate seasons and preventing temperature extremes anywhere on earth.

The Medieval Warm Period (MWP) refers to a relatively warm period lasting from about the 10th to the 14th century.2 However, the initial evidence for the MWP was largely based on data3 gathered from Europe, and more recent analyses indicate that the MWP was not a global phenomenon. A number of reconstructions of millennium-scale global temperatures have indicated that the maximum globally averaged temperature during the MWP was not as extreme as present-day temperatures and that the warming was regional rather than global. Perhaps the most well-known of these is that of Michael Mann and colleagues (Nature, 392, 1998, pg. 779). Their reconstruction produced the so-called “hockey stick” graphic that contributed to this conclusion in the 2001 assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: “The…'Medieval Warm Period' appear(s) to have limited utility in describing trends in hemispheric or global mean temperature changes in past centuries." The accuracy of the “hockey stick” graphic was widely discussed in the press when the Mann et al. methodology was criticized by McIntyre and McKitrick (Geophys. Res. Lettr, 32, 2005, pg. L03710). Less attention was given to subsequent studies, such as that of Moberg and colleagues (Nature, 433, 2005, pg. 613) and Osborn and Briffa (Science, 311, 2006, pg. 841) that were based on different, independent methodologies but reached conclusions similar to Mann. Observations of melting high altitude glaciers are

Nowadays, one of the most difficult problems is Global Warming. It is obvious that increasing in earth's temperature has made significant negative effects on earth's climate during the last few