1. What is the difference between regional climate and microclimate?
Regional climate describes the general climatic conditions of the locality that plants and animals inhabit. Microclimate is the climate at a very local scale that influences the presence and distribution of organisms.
2. Why is vegetation important in climate?
Plants alter wind movement, evaporation, moisture and soil temperatures hen influences the microclimate of the area.
3. What are impervious surfaces? How can impervious surface affect local climates?
Impervious surfaces are hard surface areas that prevents or retards the entry of water into the soil mantle. It affects local climates by affecting the temperature of the region.
4. What is an urban environment?
An urban environment is a land occupied by buildings and structures for residences and institutional/industrial sites. This environment has a source of public transportation
5. What is a suburban environment?
Outskirts of cities. Structures are often lower and farther apart than in cities. They offer the same services in the cities like schools and health care facilities.
6. What is a rural environment?
Areas with large amounts of land with lower populations than both urban and suburban. Structures are far apart and rural communities share schools or hospitals.
7. What is an urban heat island? Explain.
An urban heat island are surfaces that are impermeable and dry, which causes urban regions to become warmer than the rural surroundings. It creates an island of higher temperatures in the landscape.
8. Why do we care about urban heat islands? What do they do to urban environments?
Heat islands can affect communities by increasing summertime peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, fossil fuel emissions and heart related illnesses. They raise the temperatures of roofs and pavement to temperatures up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. What can be done about the urban heat island effect?
Creation of tree and vegetative cover, creating green roofs, using green pavements and installing cool roofs.
10. What are green roofs and what are their advantages?
A green roof is a roof of a building that is covered with vegetation and soil. Advantages are air quality, water quality and heat dissipation.
11. What is a cool pavement?
A cool pavement refers to materials that are used to reduce pavement temperature by increasing pavement reflectivity.
12. What is a pervious pavement? What is the advantage?
Pervious pavements are made of concrete, asphalt and gravel that are mixed in a manner that creates an open cell structure allowing air and water to pass through.
A. Describe how the temperature of urban areas like Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Chicago differs from that of surrounding rural areas.
Temperatures in areas like Atlanta, Philadelphia and Chicago differ from the surrounding rural areas because the surface and the air temperature in those locations are higher. The temperature for air and surface areas are higher than the rural areas in both the daytime and nighttime.
B. Identify and describe TWO differences between urban and surrounding rural areas that contribute to the temperature differences between them.
Urban areas have a higher population and the structures are bunched up together. The surface in the urban areas are impermeable which means that water cannot pass through. The surface cannot absorb water making the pavements warm or even hot. Urban areas also have higher temperature due to the density of the population. Rural area structures are far apart and there is less of a population. These lands are permeable which allows the surface temperature in these locations to be cool.
C. Urban areas typically have levels of air pollution that are significantly higher than those found in surrounding rural areas. Identify a characteristic of the urban microclimate that lead to higher levels of air pollution and describe how that characteristic contributes to this increase
More people are in the city for jobs contributes to this increase means that there is more transportation to get to their jobs, which means emission of CO2 into the atmosphere.
D. Identify and describe TWO actions that local governments in urban areas could take to reduce air pollution.
Two ways that local governments could take to reduce air pollution is to do the cap-and-trade meaning that companies must buy the amount of CO2 they want to emit to the atmosphere. This causes the businesses to rethink their emissions and hopefully could make them resort to using renewable resources. Another is to tax on air pollution. Taxing businesses could lower their budget, thus making them emit less greenhouse gases to save money.
Regional climate describes the general climatic conditions of the locality that plants and animals inhabit. Microclimate is the climate at a very local scale that influences the presence and distribution of organisms.
2. Why is vegetation important in climate?
Plants alter wind movement, evaporation, moisture and soil temperatures hen influences the microclimate of the area.
3. What are impervious surfaces? How can impervious surface affect local climates?
Impervious surfaces are hard surface areas that prevents or retards the entry of water into the soil mantle. It affects local climates by affecting the temperature of the region.
4. What is an urban environment?
An urban environment is a land occupied by buildings and structures for residences and institutional/industrial sites. This environment has a source of public transportation
5. What is a suburban environment?
Outskirts of cities. Structures are often lower and farther apart than in cities. They offer the same services in the cities like schools and health care facilities.
6. What is a rural environment?
Areas with large amounts of land with lower populations than both urban and suburban. Structures are far apart and rural communities share schools or hospitals.
7. What is an urban heat island? Explain.
An urban heat island are surfaces that are impermeable and dry, which causes urban regions to become warmer than the rural surroundings. It creates an island of higher temperatures in the landscape.
8. Why do we care about urban heat islands? What do they do to urban environments?
Heat islands can affect communities by increasing summertime peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, fossil fuel emissions and heart related illnesses. They raise the temperatures of roofs and pavement to temperatures up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. What can be done about the urban heat island effect?
Creation of tree and vegetative cover, creating green roofs, using green pavements and installing cool roofs.
10. What are green roofs and what are their advantages?
A green roof is a roof of a building that is covered with vegetation and soil. Advantages are air quality, water quality and heat dissipation.
11. What is a cool pavement?
A cool pavement refers to materials that are used to reduce pavement temperature by increasing pavement reflectivity.
12. What is a pervious pavement? What is the advantage?
Pervious pavements are made of concrete, asphalt and gravel that are mixed in a manner that creates an open cell structure allowing air and water to pass through.
A. Describe how the temperature of urban areas like Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Chicago differs from that of surrounding rural areas.
Temperatures in areas like Atlanta, Philadelphia and Chicago differ from the surrounding rural areas because the surface and the air temperature in those locations are higher. The temperature for air and surface areas are higher than the rural areas in both the daytime and nighttime.
B. Identify and describe TWO differences between urban and surrounding rural areas that contribute to the temperature differences between them.
Urban areas have a higher population and the structures are bunched up together. The surface in the urban areas are impermeable which means that water cannot pass through. The surface cannot absorb water making the pavements warm or even hot. Urban areas also have higher temperature due to the density of the population. Rural area structures are far apart and there is less of a population. These lands are permeable which allows the surface temperature in these locations to be cool.
C. Urban areas typically have levels of air pollution that are significantly higher than those found in surrounding rural areas. Identify a characteristic of the urban microclimate that lead to higher levels of air pollution and describe how that characteristic contributes to this increase
More people are in the city for jobs contributes to this increase means that there is more transportation to get to their jobs, which means emission of CO2 into the atmosphere.
D. Identify and describe TWO actions that local governments in urban areas could take to reduce air pollution.
Two ways that local governments could take to reduce air pollution is to do the cap-and-trade meaning that companies must buy the amount of CO2 they want to emit to the atmosphere. This causes the businesses to rethink their emissions and hopefully could make them resort to using renewable resources. Another is to tax on air pollution. Taxing businesses could lower their budget, thus making them emit less greenhouse gases to save money.