УМК ин.яз.(английский) БТФ

CLIMATE

Topical Vocabulary

Exercise 1

Make all possible derivatives from the following words:

Sun, rain, snow, freeze

Exercise 2

Chose the words from the topical vocabulary to match the definitions:

-a loud rumbling or crashing noise heard after a lightning flash due to the expansion of rapidly heated air;

-a feathery ice crystal, typically displaying delicate sixfold symmetry;

-small balls of ice that fall like rain from the sky;

-a thick cloud of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth's surface that obscures or restricts visibility;

-a violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lightning, or snow;

-the occurrence of a natural electrical discharge of very short duration and high voltage between a cloud and the ground or within a cloud, accompanied by a bright flash and typically also thunder;

-a waterless, desolate area of land with little or no vegetation, typically one covered with sand;

-a severe, often destructive storm, esp. a tropical cyclone.

Exercise 3

Use the words from the topical vocabulary to fill in the gaps.

1.Suddenly rain … down.

2.Heavy … made travel absolutely impossible this winter.

3.The sky became dark with … and it began to … heavily.

4.The sun was …. brightly in the … sky.

5.When there is …, there are tiny drops of water in the air which form a thick cloud and make it difficult to see things.

6.The … is of concern to environmentalists because of its role as a source of biodiversity, and as a sink for large volumes of carbon dioxide.

CLIMATE

Climate (from Ancient Greek klima, meaning inclination) is commonly defined as the weather averaged over a long period. The standard averaging period is 30 years, but other periods may be used depending on the purpose. Climate also includes statistics other than the average, such as the magnitudes of day-to-day or year-to-year variations.

The difference between climate and weather is usefully summarized by the popular phrase "Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get." Over historical time spans there are a number of nearly constant variables that determine climate, including latitude, altitude, proportion of land to water, and proximity to oceans and mountains. These change only over periods of millions of years due to processes such as plate tectonics. Other climate determinants are more dynamic: the thermohaline circulation of the ocean leads to a 5 °C (9 °F) warming of the northern Atlantic Ocean compared to other ocean basins. Other ocean currents redistribute heat between land and water on a more regional scale. The density and type of vegetation coverage affects solar heat absorption, water retention, and rainfall on a regional level. Alterations in the quantity of atmospheric greenhouse gases determines the amount of solar energy retained by the planet, leading to global warming or global cooling. The variables which determine climate are numerous and the interactions complex, but there is general agreement that the broad outlines are understood, at least insofar as the determinants of historical climate change are concerned.

CLIMATE CLASSIFICATION

There are several ways to classify climates into similar regimes. Originally, climes were defined in Ancient Greece to describe the weather depending upon a location's latitude. Modern climate classification methods can be broadly divided into genetic methods, which focus on the causes of climate, and empiric methods, which focus on the effects of climate. Examples of genetic classification include methods based on the relative frequency of different air mass types or locations within synoptic weather disturbances. Examples of empiric classifications include climate zones defined by plant hardiness, evapotranspiration, or more generally the Köppen climate classification which was originally designed to identify the climates associated with certain biomes. A common shortcoming of these classification schemes is that they produce distinct boundaries between the zones

they define, rather than the gradual transition of climate properties more common in nature.

Exercise 1

Find in the text English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:

ежегодные колебания; средний период; промежуток времени; близость океана и гор; тектоника плит; океанический бассейн; глобальное потепление и похолодание; поглощение солнечного тепла; влагоудержание; типы воздушных масс; эвапотранспирация.

Exercise 2

Complete the sentences:

1.The standard averaging period of climate is …

2.Climate is …, weather is … .

3.The density and type of vegetation coverage affects …

4.Examples of genetic classification include methods based on …

5.Examples of empiric classifications include …

Exercise 3

Answer the questions:

1.What is climate?

2.What is the difference between climate and weather?

3.What are the constant variables that determine climate?

4.What are the two main methods of modern climate classification?

5.What is the Köppen climate classification associated with?

WORLD CLIMATE ZONES

Have you ever wondered why one area of the world is a desert, another a grassland, and another a rainforest? Why are there different forests and deserts, and why are there different types of life in each area? The answer is climate.

Climate is the characteristic condition of the atmosphere near the earth's surface at a certain place on earth. It is the long-term weather of that area (at least 30 years). This includes the region's general pattern of weather conditions, seasons and weather extremes like hurricanes, droughts, or rainy periods. Two of the most important factors determining an area's climate are air temperature and precipitation.

World biomes are controlled by climate. The climate of a region will determine what plants will grow there, and what animals will inhabit it. All three components, climate, plants and animals are interwoven to create the fabric of a biome.

KÖPPEN CLIMATE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

The Köppen Climate Classification System is the most widely used for classifying the world's climates. Most classification systems used today are based on the one introduced in 1900 by the Russian-German climatologist Wladimir

Köppen. Köppen divided the Earth's surface into climatic regions that generally coincided with world patterns of vegetation and soils.

The Köppen system recognizes five major climate types based on the annual and monthly averages of temperature and precipitation. Each type is designated by a capital letter.

A - Moist Tropical Climates are known for their high temperatures year round and for their large amount of year round rain.

B - Dry Climates are characterized by little rain and a huge daily temperature range. Two subgroups, S - semiarid or steppe, and W - arid or desert, are used with the B climates.

C - In Humid Middle Latitude Climates land/water differences play a large part. These climates have warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters.

D - Continental Climates can be found in the interior regions of large land masses. Total precipitation is not very high and seasonal temperatures vary widely.

E - Cold Climates describe this climate type perfectly. These climates are part of areas where permanent ice and tundra are always present. Only about four months of the year have above freezing temperatures.

Further subgroups are designated by a second, lower case letter which distinguish specific seasonal characteristics of temperature and precipitation.

f - Moist with adequate precipitation in all months and no dry season. This letter usually accompanies the A, C, and D climates.

m - Rainforest climate in spite of short, dry season in monsoon type cycle. This letter only applies to A climates.

s - There is a dry season in the summer of the respective hemisphere (highsun season).

w - There is a dry season in the winter of the respective hemisphere (low-sun season).

To further denote variations in climate, a third letter was added to the code. a - Hot summers where the warmest month is over 22°C (72°F). These can

be found in C and D climates.

b - Warm summer with the warmest month below 22°C (72°F). These can also be found in C and D climates.

c - Cool, short summers with less than four months over 10°C (50°F) in the

C and D climates.

d - Very cold winters with the coldest month below -38°C (-36°F) in the D climate only.

h - Dry-hot with a mean annual temperature over 18°C (64°F) in B climates

only.

k - Dry-cold with a mean annual temperature under 18°C (64°F) in B climates only.

The Köppen classification depends on average monthly values of temperature and precipitation. The most commonly used form of the Köppen

classification has five primary types labeled A through E. These primary types are A, tropical; B, dry; C, mild mid-latitude; D, cold mid-latitude; and E, polar. The five primary classifications can be further divided into secondary classifications such as rain forest, monsoon, tropical savanna, humid subtropical, humid continental, oceanic climate, Mediterranean climate, steppe, subarctic climate, tundra, polar ice cap, and desert.

Rain forests are characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1,750 millimetres (69 in) and 2,000 millimetres (79 in). Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C (64 °F) during all months of the year.

A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind which lasts for several months, ushering in a region's rainy season. Regions within North America, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia and East Asia are monsoon regimes.

A tropical savanna is a grassland biome located in semiarid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and tropical latitudes, with average temperatures remain at or above 18 °C (64 °F) year round and rainfall between 750 millimetres

(30 in) and 1,270 millimetres (50 in) a year. They are widespread on Africa, and are found in India, the northern parts of South America, Malaysia, and Australia.

The humid subtropical climate zone where winter rainfall (and sometimes snowfall) is associated with large storms that the westerlies steer from west to east. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms and from occasional tropical cyclones. Humid subtropical climates lie on the east side continents, roughly between latitudes 20° and 40° degrees away from the equator.

A humid continental climate is marked by variable weather patterns and a large seasonal temperature variance. Places with more than three months of average daily temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F) and a coldest month temperature below −3 °C (27 °F) and which do not meet the criteria for an arid or semiarid climate, are classified as continental.

An oceanic climate is typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of all the world's continents, and in southeastern Australia, and is accompanied by plentiful precipitation year round.

The Mediterranean climate regime resembles the climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, parts of western North America, parts of Western and South Australia, in southwestern South Africa and in parts of central Chile. The climate is characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.

A steppe is a dry grassland with an annual temperature range in the summer of up to 40 °C (104 °F) and during the winter down to −40 °C (−40 °F).

A subarctic climate has little precipitation, and monthly temperatures which are above 10 °C (50 °F) for one to three months of the year, with permafrost in large parts of the area due to the cold winters. Winters within subarctic climates usually include up to six months of temperatures averaging below 0 °C (32 °F).

Tundra occurs in the far Northern Hemisphere, north of the taiga belt, including vast areas of northern Russia and Canada.

A polar ice cap, or polar ice sheet, is a high-latitude region of a planet or moon that is covered in ice. Ice caps form because high-latitude regions receive

less energy as solar radiation from the sun than equatorial regions, resulting in lower surface temperatures.

A desert is a landscape form or region that receives very little precipitation. Deserts usually have a large diurnal and seasonal temperature range, with high or low, depending on location daytime temperatures (in summer up to 45 °C or

113 °F, and low nighttime temperatures (in winter down to 0 °C or 32 °F due to extremely low humidity. Many deserts are formed by rain shadows, as mountains block the path of moisture and precipitation to the desert.

Exercise 1

Find in the text English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:

метеорологические условия; температура воздуха и осадки; экстремальные погодные условия; образцы растительности и почвы; полушарие; годовая температура; обильное выпадение осадков; вечная мерзлота; ледниковый покров; дневные температуры; низкая влажность.

Exercise 2

Complete the sentences:

1.Two of the most important factors determining an area's climate are …

2.World biomes are controlled by …

3.The Köppen Climate Classification System is the most widely used for classifying the …

4.Moist Tropical Climates are known for their …

5.The five primary classifications can be further divided into secondary classifications such as …

6.Tundra occurs in …

7.A desert is a landscape form or region that receives …

Exercise 3

Answer the questions:

1.What are the most important factors determining an area's climate?

2.What is the most widely used climate classification system?

3.How many major climate types does the Köppen system recognize?

4.What are they based on?

5.What are the five primary types of climate classifications? Can you describe them?

6.What are the secondary classifications of these primary groups?

WEATHER

Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day

temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate is the term for the average atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time.

Weather is driven by density (temperature and moisture) differences between one place and another. These differences can occur due to the sun angle at any particular spot, which varies by latitude from the tropics. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the jet stream. Weather systems in the mid-latitudes, such as extratropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities of the jet stream flow. Because the Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane, sunlight is incident at different angles at different times of the year.

On Earth's surface, temperatures usually range ±40 °C (100 °F to −40 °F) annually.

Over thousands of years, changes in Earth's orbit affect the amount and distribution of solar energy received by the Earth and influence long-term climate and global climate change.

Surface temperature differences in turn cause pressure differences. Higher altitudes are cooler than lower altitudes due to differences in compressional heating. Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. The atmosphere is a chaotic system, so small changes to one part of the system can grow to have large effects on the system as a whole. Human attempts to control the weather have occurred throughout human history, and there is evidence that human activity such as agriculture and industry has inadvertently modified weather patterns.

Studying how the weather works on other planets has been helpful in understanding how weather works on Earth. A famous landmark in the Solar System, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, is an anticyclonic storm known to have existed for at least 300 years. However, weather is not limited to planetary bodies. A star's corona is constantly being lost to space, creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the Solar System. The movement of mass ejected from the Sun is known as the solar wind.

Exercise 1

Find in the text the English equivalents of the following words and expressions:

Природные явления; струйное течение (в атмосфере); внетропические ураганы; температура поверхности; нагрев при сжатии; прогнозирование погоды; солнечный ветер; земная ось; солнечная система; космические тела; плоскость орбиты; прогнозировать состояние атмосферы.

Exercise 2

Complete the sentences:

1.Most weather phenomena occur in …

2.The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise

to …

3.On Earth's surface, temperatures usually range …

4.Surface temperature differences in turn cause …

5.Studying how the weather works on other planets has been helpful in …

Exercise 3

Answer the questions:

1.Where do most weather phenomena occur?

2.What gives rise to the jet stream?

3.What is weather forcasting?

4.In what way does human activity influence weather patterns?

5.What is solar wind?

DISCUSSION

Do yon agree or not? Comment on the following statements.

1.Everything is good in its season.

2.If there were no clouds, we should not enjoy the sun.

3.Rain at seven, fine at eleven.