1. Climate
1.1. Polar Climate
1.1.1. Severe Winters and Cool Summers
1.1.1.1. The temperature doesn't go over 10 degrees
1.1.1.2. Polar Climate covers over 20% of the earth
1.1.1.3. Places with Polar Climate include all of Antarctica, most of Greenland, the extreme northeastern coast of Scandinavia,Northern Siberia, Northern Canada and Northern Alaska
1.1.2. Polar Climate
1.2. Temperate Climate
1.2.1. Moderate temperature conditions year round
1.2.1.1. Ranges between a latitude of 40 degrees and 60/70 degrees.
1.2.1.2. There is usually a lot of architecture in places with Temperate Climate due to the fact that the structures are able to withstand cold and snow and well as summer heat.
1.2.2. Temperate Climate
1.3. Tropical Climate
1.3.1. Hot temperatures in every season and a lot of moisture
1.3.1.1. Year round, the temperature never goes over 12 degrees in tropical climate
1.3.1.2. There are three types of tropical climate: Tropical rainforest climate, Tropical monsoon climate, Tropical wet and dry or savanna climate.
1.3.1.3. Places that have a tropical climate: Mumbai India, Jakarta Indonesia, Rio de Janeiro Brazil, Veracruz Mexico, Port-Au Prince Haiti, Dar es Salaam Tanzania, Lagos Nigeria, Darwin Australia, Naples United States, Honolulu United States
1.3.2. Tropical Climate
1.3.2.1. New node
1.4. Desert Climate
1.4.1. Very dry weather conditions
1.4.1.1. Desert climate is also known as Arid Climate
1.4.1.2. There is usually less then 250 mm of precipitation per year
1.4.1.3. Areas with a hot desert climate : the Sahara, the Arabian, Syrian and Kalahari Deserts, large parts of Iran, southern and central Pakistan, northwest India, the southwestern United States, Northern Mexico, and much of Australia.
1.4.2. Desert Climate
1.4.3. Arctic Desert Climate
1.5. Maritime Climate
1.5.1. Warm summer and cool winters
1.5.1.1. Places with a maritime climate have a narrow annual temperature
1.5.1.2. Maritime Climate affects Europe the most, seeing as it goes much more inland than other continents.
1.5.1.3. Though most of the precipitation in places with Maritime climate is rain, majority of areas see snowfall annually.
1.5.2. Maritime Climate
1.6. Continental Climate
1.6.1. Hot summers and Cold Winters
1.6.1.1. The average temperature in the day time in the summer for Continental Climate is 26 degrees. The average temperature in the night in the summer is 14 degrees. The average temperature in the day time in the winter is -3 degrees. The average temperature in the night time in the winter is -14 degrees.
1.6.1.2. Continental Climate does not exist in the southern hemisphere because there is no large land masses at middle latitudes, where continental climate is located.
1.6.1.3. The winds that have the power to lower the temp. int he summer or raise the temp, in the winter that appear in places with a Continental Climate tend to head offshore.
1.6.2. Continental Climate
1.7. Mountain Climate
1.7.1. Cooler than places at a lower altitude;often heavy precipitation if located near coastlines
1.7.1.1. Also known as Alpine Climate
1.7.1.2. Places with an altitude above "tree line" are classified as Mountain Climate
1.7.1.3. The Cascade Mountains, the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, the Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada, the Andes, the Himalayas, the Tibetan Plateau, the Eastern Highlands of Africa, and the central parts of Borneo and New Guinea are examples of places with Mountain Climate
1.7.2. Mountain/Alpine/Highland Climate
2. Landforms
2.1. Active Volcanoes
2.1.1. Located in the Pacific Ring of Fire and Mid-Atlantic Ridge
2.1.1.1. Pacific Ring of Fire
2.1.1.2. Mid-Atlantic Ridge
2.1.2. Composite Cone: A volcano made up of alternating layers of magma.
2.1.2.1. Composite Cone/Volcano
2.1.3. Shield Cone : A volcano built entirely of magma
2.1.3.1. Shield Cone/Volcano
2.1.4. Krakatoa: A Volcano that erupted in 1883. The sound of the eruption was recorded as the loudest sound recorded, modern history. Killed approximately 40,00 people,65 villages and towns were destroyed and 132 seriously damaged, and many thousands were injured by the eruption, mostly from the tsunamis that followed the explosion.
2.1.4.1. 1888 drawing of the Krakatoa erupting
2.1.5. Volcanoes occur where molten magma is able to break through the thin crust.
2.1.5.1. The magma is breaking through the crust and flowing i nto the volcano
2.1.6. A Volcano is an opening/rupture in the earths crust,which allows hot magma and volcanic ash to escape.
2.1.6.1. Cleveland Volcano
2.2. Fold Mountains
2.2.1. Fold Mountains are basically a chain of Mountains, such as the Zagros Mountains. The term "fold mountains" isn't used that often anymore though. Thrust belts and Mountain belts are more common
2.2.1.1. Map of the Zagros Mountains
2.2.1.1.1. Largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq
2.2.1.1.2. 1,500 kilometeres long
2.2.1.1.3. Formed by the Collision of the Eurasian and Arabian plates
2.2.1.2. Zagros Mountains
2.2.2. Fold Mountains are mostly located on the edge of continents. Examples of Fold Mountains are The Alps, The Himalayas, The Jura Mountains and Mt. Kosciusko.
2.2.2.1. Map of the Alps
2.2.2.1.1. Stretches through 7 countries(Slovenia, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein )
2.2.2.1.2. 4,810.45 metres long
2.2.2.1.3. The Alps are so long that they are divided into 2 sections called the Eastern Alps and the Western Alps. Still to large , they are divided into 3 sections in the eastern alps and 11 sections in the western alps.
2.2.2.2. Top of the Alps
2.2.2.3. Map of the Himalayas
2.2.2.3.1. The Himalayas also stretch through 7 countries(Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, People's Republic of China, India, Nepal, Pakistan)
2.2.2.3.2. The Himalayas are home to the world's highest peaks ( Mt.Everest and K2)
2.2.2.3.3. There are over 100 mountains in the Himalayas
2.2.2.4. Himalayas, Kulu Valley
2.2.2.5. Map of The Jura Mountains
2.2.2.5.1. Though it goes through 8 countries(France, Switzerland, Rhône-Alpes, Franche-Comté, Vaud, Canton of Neuchâtel, Canton of Jura, Basel-Landschaft) the Jura mountains are still considered as a very small mountain Range
2.2.2.5.2. Located at the north of the Alps. It's like a mountain range within a mountain range!
2.2.2.5.3. The Jura mountains are separated into 3 major sections. (the Malm, the Dogger, and the Lias). They have been around since the Jurassic period.
2.2.2.6. Jura Mountains, Switzerland
2.2.2.7. Map of Mt. Kosciusko
2.2.2.7.1. Mount Kosciuszkowas named by the Polish explorer Count Paul Edmund Strzelecki in 1840.
2.2.2.7.2. Like most mountains in Australia, Mount Kosciuszko is not hard to climb.
2.2.2.7.3. Mt. Kosciusko is used for cross-country skiing
2.2.2.8. Mt. Kosciusko, Australia
2.2.3. Mountains are formed when two plates collide. If plates collide and continents move along with them, that is when fold mountains occur. If you were to take a table cloth and push it across a table, that is what fold mountains look like.
2.2.3.1. What fold Mountains look like
2.2.3.1.1. When you push a table cloth, it begins to look like this. This is what fold mountains look like, except it is longer length wise and not AS folded,
2.2.3.2. Colliding plates
2.2.3.2.1. As you can see in the picture, two plates are colliding and forming a mountain. IF the picture were a video, you would see how one plates pushes against another and how it crumples up to form fold mountains
2.3. Shield Regions
2.3.1. Ancient shields are mainly composed of igneous and metamorphic rock
2.3.1.1. Igneous rock
2.3.1.2. Metamorphic Rock
2.3.1.3. Shields were first igneous rock, but heat and pressure altered the rock and formed metamorphic rock
2.3.1.4. Ancient Shield were made by widespread volcanic activity. This explains why most of the ancient shields are made up of igneous rock.
2.3.2. There were old shield regions built in the middle of Pangea. As Pangea broke apart to form the continents we have today, the shield regions went along with the broken pieces and formed the core of the continents.
2.3.2.1. Pangea
2.3.2.2. The core of Pangaea was old shield regions. When Pangaea broke apart, the only continents that had the shield regions left over from Pangaea were north North America (Canada) and Africa.
2.3.3. The Canadian Shield.
2.3.3.1. The Canadian Shield is the most well known Shield Region.
2.3.3.2. It is located mostly located in the North-West Territories, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec,
2.3.3.2.1. Canadian Shield
2.3.3.2.2. Covers over half of Canada and a bit of the north of the U.S.A
2.3.3.3. The Canadian Shield is also known as the Laurentian Plateau, or theBouclier Canadien
2.3.3.4. Is mostly composed of igneous rock
2.3.3.5. The Canadian Shield is made up of it's own "shield provinces". Laurentian Upland, Kazan Region, Davis, Hudson, and James
2.3.3.6. The Canadian Shield holds the Earth's greatest area of exposed Archaean rock
2.3.3.6.1. Archean Rock
2.3.3.7. The Canadian Shield is one of the world's greatest mining ores. It is filled with substantial deposits of nickel, gold, silver, and copper.
2.3.3.8. The North-West portion of the Canadian Shield has recently been the site of major diamond discoveries
2.3.3.8.1. North-West portion of the Canadian Shield
2.4. Plains and Lowlands
2.4.1. Plain: Usually a broad, treeless, level region.
2.4.1.1. Sediment was carried by rivers and glaciers into the ancient seas. The seas filled in and formed new land. The sediment formed into sedimentary rock, and under laid the new land. This caused the land to be level/flat and created what is now called plains.
2.4.1.1.1. Sediment and Sedimentary Rock
2.4.1.1.2. Plains
2.4.2. Lowland : A plain located along coatlines The land stretching from Oceanic depths to highlands, depressions in the interior of a mountainous region, or any region that is in contrast to a highland.
2.4.2.1. Scotland is broken up into two parts. The upper half is called the Highlands, and the lower part is called the Lowlands.
2.4.2.1.1. The Lowlands and the Highlands of Scotland
2.4.2.1.2. Scotland wasn't separated into the Lowlands and the Highlands due to the fact that the northern part of Scotland is at a higher altitude than the the Lowlands It was separated into those sections for cultural and religious reasons.
2.4.2.2. Examples of Lowlands are the:
2.4.2.2.1. Silesian Lowlands
2.4.2.2.2. Caribbean Lowlands
2.4.2.2.3. Eastern Ridges and Lowlands
2.4.2.2.4. Arctic Lowlands and Hudson Bay Lowlands
2.4.2.2.5. Rasmussen Lowlands
2.4.2.2.6. Meshchera Lowlands
2.4.2.2.7. Saint Lawrence Lowlands
3. Agriculture
3.1. Growing crops and raising animals
3.1.1. Intensive Farming
3.1.1.1. Agriculture in which much labour is used to get food from small plots of land
3.1.1.2. Most agriculture is intensive farming. Rice, vegetables and poultry are raised this way
3.1.1.3. Intensive Farmers usually show animal abuse
3.1.2. Extensive Farming
3.1.2.1. Agriculture in which little labour is used (but often large machinery) is used to work big farms.
3.1.2.2. Most of North America's agriculture is extensive farming. Wheat, corn and beef cattle are produced this way
3.1.2.3. Little labour is used, and what labour is used is usually machinery
3.1.3. Subsistence Agriculture
3.1.3.1. Farms that produce only enough for the farm family.
3.1.3.2. The word subsistence comes from the word subsist, which means to survive. Subsistence farmers work full time to feed themselves and their family, using mainly animal power and their own labour.
3.1.3.3. Subsistence farmers are usually found in places with a large population, or on lands not suitable for commercial agriculture.
3.1.3.4. There are 3 types of subsistence farmers:
3.1.3.4.1. Nomadic Herders
3.1.3.4.2. Shifting Cultivators
3.1.3.4.3. Small Landholders
3.1.4. Commercial Agriculture
3.1.4.1. Farming that produces a large surplus of one or a few types of crop, livestock or other farm product and sells it for profit.
3.1.4.1.1. Locations and Climate
3.1.4.1.2. Raw Materials
3.1.4.1.3. Labour and Machinery
3.1.4.1.4. Some commercial farmers specialize in organic foods.
3.1.5. Specialized Agriculture
3.1.5.1. Commercial farming focused on one type of product
3.1.5.1.1. Examples of specialized agriculture:
3.1.5.2. These farmers don't only focus on food. They produce millions of things that people use in their every day lives, like flowers, tobacco(unfortunately) and cotton.
4. Natural Disasters
4.1. Acid Rain
4.1.1. Acid rain is caused when fossil fuels release sulfuric oxide gases into the air. These chemicals mix with water in the atmosphere to form mild acids, which fall back to the earth as precipitation.
4.1.1.1. Pollution like this causes acid rain
4.1.1.1.1. Air pollution in China
4.1.2. Acid Rain can do serious damage.
4.1.2.1. These are trees affected by acid rain
4.1.2.2. Think of acid rain as liquid fire. Whatever it touches, it burns. If I pour acid on a desk, it would sizzle through the desk and leave a whole behind. If I threw a bucket full of acid onto my printer, it would melt the printer and leave deformed melted plastic behind.
4.1.2.3. This statue was once an upright, smiling person with angel wings, but was affected by acid rain
4.1.2.4. Some people protect their things during the season where precipitation occurs the most, due to the fact that if the soon to be rain/snow in the atmosphere mixes with the pollution in the air, it could cause acid rain
4.1.2.4.1. Harvard protects an ancient statue on its grounds during the winter, in case acid rain occurs
4.2. Earthquakes
4.2.1. Earthquakes are caused by moving tectonic plates. When plates rub against each other, are ripped apart, hauled together or dragged alongside one another, the rock above it bends a bit. It keeps on bending until it snaps, releasing a huge amount of energy.
4.2.1.1. This is a diagram of how tectonic plates move. When they move, It sends energy surging upwards, resulting in an earthquake.
4.2.2. Earthquakes are measured on the Richter Scale. The Richter scale is a ten point scale used to measure the strength of an earthquake. Only earthquakes that achieve a 5 or higher on the Richter Scale are reported for the entire world. Anything under a 3 is nearly undetectable, and anything over a 7 can cause serious damage.
4.2.2.1. The Richter Scale
4.2.2.2. This is probably the most damage an earthquake that achieves under a 3 on the Richter Scale can do
4.2.2.3. This is a picture from the 2011 Japan Earthquake. It achieved a 9.0 on the Richter Scale.
4.2.2.3.1. This is a picture from the 2004 Sumatra Earthquake. It received a 9.2 on the Richter Scale.
4.2.3. There is a variety or myths to how earthquakes are caused
4.2.3.1. In Greek mythology, when Poseidon gets angry, he strikes the ground with his trident, causing earthquakes.
4.2.3.1.1. In Japanese mythology, there is a giant catfish named Namazu. He is guarded by a god named Kashima, who restrains him with a stone. When Kashima lets his guard down, Namazu thrashes, causing violent earthquakes.
4.2.4. There are ways to tell if an earthquake is coming, but they usually appear without warning. It is understood, however, that we will have developed a method to warn everyone that an earthquake is coming in the next few decades.
4.2.4.1. This is an Earthquake Sensor. It receives the shake waves from the earthquake and quickly sends it to people who try to inform everyone about an earthquake that will occur within the next few minutes.
4.2.5. Earthquakes are just the spark to a chain of events. Because of the amount of energy released, earthquakes can cause avalanches, landslides, fires, tsunami's and so much more
4.3. Hurricanes
4.3.1. Also known as tropical cyclones
4.3.1.1. Hurricane Isabel
4.3.2. A type of storm that produces strong winds and heavy rain.
4.3.2.1. The faster the wind, the worse the damage the hurricane does. All hurricanes begin as tropical disturbances, which is the lowest level on the scale used to measure hurricanes. A tropical disturbance is a weather phenomenon originating from warm ocean waters as cool air blows into the base of swirling mounds of warm, moist air heated by the sun
4.3.3. When you look at a hurricane from space, it looks like this
4.3.3.1. The winds swirl around, clockwise in the southern hemisphere and counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere
4.3.3.1.1. The thing that the wind is swirling around is called the eye, which is something hurricanes are most known for. Mature hurricanes' eyes are usually coldest and are free of all clouds. In newer, weaker hurricanes the eye is covered and under it is where the greatest wind speeds are found and precipitation is the heaviest.
4.3.4. Hurricanes develop over water that is at least 27 degrees
4.3.4.1. Atlantic hurricanes start off as thunder storms that occur on the coast of Africa. The storm then begins to move over the ocean. The power of it's wind increase as warm, moist air from the ocean rises into the atmosphere, creating condensation.
4.3.5. Hurricanes can do a lot of damage. In fact, the amount of heat and energy they use is around 70 times the world energy consumption, or if you exploded a 10-megaton nuclear bomb every 20 minutes
4.3.5.1. Damage from Hurricane Andrew
4.3.5.1.1. Damage from Hurricane Katrina.
4.3.6. Fujiwhara effect
4.3.6.1. The Fujiwhara effect is when two hurricanes meet. They start to come Fujiwara effect closer and the space between them is considered as the eye. The two then merge, and create one bigger hurricane. If one hurricane is a lot bigger than the other, the bigger one will dominate and the smaller will orbit around it
4.3.6.1.1. Before the two merge
4.4. Landslides
4.4.1. Landslides are when loads and the land under it come tumbling down due to barely stable slopes.
4.4.2. There are many different causes for landslides. The two types are natural landslides and landslides caused by human activites.
4.4.2.1. Some ways a landslide can be caused naturally are by earthquakes, which add loads to a barely stable slope, weakening of a slope by snowmelt, glaciers melting, or heavy rains and volcanic eruptions, which shakes off everything from the force of the eruption
4.4.2.1.1. Some ways a landslide can be caused by human activities are deforestation, construction, vibrations from traffic and machinery and anything that alters the shape of or adds new load to an already existing slope
4.4.3. A landslide occurs when something damages the stability of a slope and gravity starts to pull things on the slope down.For example, If weather started to damage a slope heading down from my backyard and everything on my backyard started to fall downwards, it would only be a matter of time before it started to affect the part of the slope that lays under my house, and the back of my house will start to fall as well.
4.4.3.1. The period of a landslide such as the one in the picture would take about 8 days
4.4.3.1.1. Day 1
4.4.4. A mudslide is basically the same thing as a landslide, but in different conditions. If the amount of water infiltrating the soil on and under the slope is great, something that woudl normally cause a landslide would cause a mudslide instead
4.4.4.1. Oaxaca, Mexico
4.4.4.1.1. The largest recorded mudslide was in 1980, when Mt. St. Helen's erupted, The force of the volcano caused a mudslide to take place. Right in front what would cause it to be the end of the mudslide was spirit lake, and because of it drastic changes had been made to it. The bottom of Spirit Lake is now 100 feet above the original surface, and has 2.5 more surface area than it did before
4.4.5. Landslide are similar to earthquakes, in a way. They both cause tsunami's!
4.4.5.1. in 1958, an earthquake triggered a humongous landslide. 30,000 cubic meters of ice and rock into the inlet of Lituya Bay, Alaska. This caused a huge mega tsunami, which is a tsunami that is hundreds of meters high.
4.4.5.1.1. The landslide occurred at the top right, and the mega tsunami started to head over the top, in the upper middle
4.5. Tornadoes
4.5.1. Tornadoes usually occur during a thunderstorm. The warm, humid air form the ground rises into the atmosphere, and the cold air from the atmosphere lowers. The warm air starts to circle around the cold air, creating a funnel like shape. It starts moving and it then heads into whatever is in its way, ripping it out of it's path. Remember that the actual winds of the tornado aren't part of the funnel, but circling around it at a diameter 5 to 6 times the funnels size
4.5.1.1. Anadarko, Oklahoma
4.5.2. Tornadoes have been observed on every continent except Antarctica, since warm air there is hardly ever likely to come it's way
4.5.2.1. The strongest most violent tornadoes last around 20-25 minutes. Nobody can really tell because it all depends on how fast it is going and how long it stays on the ground for
4.5.2.1.1. A tornado starting to dissapear
4.5.3. Tornadoes occur all the time, but the ones that do are usually not that strong. We can't tell because they are usually covered up by heavy rainfall and large storm clouds
4.5.3.1. With slightly heavier rainfall, that tornado would be barely visible
4.5.4. The Pulse-Doppler Radar
4.5.4.1. This is a Doppler Radar. These are located in tornado prone areas so people near them are informed of upcoming tornadoes
4.5.5. Are Tornadoes linked to global warming?
4.5.5.1. Yes. Global warming is actually what's causing more and more tornadoes each and every year.
4.5.5.1.1. Global Warming causes the earth to become like this (not literally)
4.6. Tsunami
4.6.1. A series of huge waves in large body of water
4.6.1.1. Waves are somewhat natural in a large body of water, but the waves of Tsunami's are huge, nearly hundreds of meters high. They usually flood land and cause more deaths then any other disaster
4.6.2. A Tsunami can be caused by earthquakes, underwater explosions, volcanic eruptions, landslides, meteorite explosions and so much more
4.6.2.1. The most well known and the most common cause of Tsunami's are earthquakes. When earthquakes occur underwater, they send a a huge amount of energy up towards the surface of the water. It then creates a small wave that increases in size as it gets closer to the shore. By the time it's at the shore, the wave is so high it usually over takes nearly all structures residing there.
4.6.2.1.1. New node
4.6.3. 2011 Japan Tsunami in progress
4.6.3.1. The surface energy of the earthquake in Japan would be able to power the city of L.A for an entire year.
4.6.3.1.1. They confirmed 15,845 deaths, 5,893 people injured, and 3,380 people missing
4.6.4. Damage from one of the worst Tsunami's in history; the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake
4.6.4.1. The countries the earthquake and tsunami hit : Indonesia (mainly in Aceh) Sri Lanka India (mostly in Tamil Nadu) Thailand Maldives Eastern coast of Africa (mostly by tsunami, especially Somalia)
4.6.4.1.1. Killed about 230,210 - 310,000 people
4.6.5. Tsunami's are also known as tidal waves, but the term is discouraged by geologists and oceanographers due to the fact that tsunamis have nothing to do with tides