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?
Vegetation can influence microclimate of an environment. Influences humidity and height of the surface of any object that is impacted directly by solar radiation
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?
Land used for buildings, structured sites, institutions, and industrial sites. usually there is public transportation, buildings are higher and built more densely, than rural or suburban, highly populated.
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?
Large amounts of land with significantly lower population than cities or suburbs. Far from urban areas
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?
urban heat islands increases demand of electricity during the summer. this causes increased pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, heat related illnesses, and water Quality
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 building with roof that is partially or completely covered with plants and soil. Advantages include: economic, 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 pavement can be made from a mixture of materials which when mixed together can create an open cell structure. this structure allows water and air to pass through. Some advantages are: Vegetation is watered, ground water is recharge, water is recharged, storm water runoff is reduced, quality is improved.
A: Describe how the temperature of urban areas like Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Chicago differs from that of surrounding rural areas.
Temperatures of these majors tend to be higher than the temperature of areas around them. This is a result of the urban heat island effect.
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.
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
In urban areas there is a lot of machinery and industrial work, which goes on. The machines create greenhouse gas emissions
D: Identify and describe TWO actions that local governments in urban areas could take to reduce air pollution.
Taxation for energy over usage which can lower their budget making them produce less greenhouse gases to save cash. Also to do the cap-and-trade meaning that companies must buy the amount of carbon they want to emit to the atmosphere. This causes the businesses to rethink their emissions and could make them resort to using renewable resources.
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?
Vegetation can influence microclimate of an environment. Influences humidity and height of the surface of any object that is impacted directly by solar radiation
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?
Land used for buildings, structured sites, institutions, and industrial sites. usually there is public transportation, buildings are higher and built more densely, than rural or suburban, highly populated.
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?
Large amounts of land with significantly lower population than cities or suburbs. Far from urban areas
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?
urban heat islands increases demand of electricity during the summer. this causes increased pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, heat related illnesses, and water Quality
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 building with roof that is partially or completely covered with plants and soil. Advantages include: economic, 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 pavement can be made from a mixture of materials which when mixed together can create an open cell structure. this structure allows water and air to pass through. Some advantages are: Vegetation is watered, ground water is recharge, water is recharged, storm water runoff is reduced, quality is improved.
A: Describe how the temperature of urban areas like Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Chicago differs from that of surrounding rural areas.
Temperatures of these majors tend to be higher than the temperature of areas around them. This is a result of the urban heat island effect.
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.
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
In urban areas there is a lot of machinery and industrial work, which goes on. The machines create greenhouse gas emissions
D: Identify and describe TWO actions that local governments in urban areas could take to reduce air pollution.
Taxation for energy over usage which can lower their budget making them produce less greenhouse gases to save cash. Also to do the cap-and-trade meaning that companies must buy the amount of carbon they want to emit to the atmosphere. This causes the businesses to rethink their emissions and could make them resort to using renewable resources.