1: What is the difference between regional climate and microclimate?
Regional climate is the general climatic condition of the local plants and animals. Microclimate is the climate at a 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 which 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 the entry of water into the soil mantle.
4: What is an urban environment?
An urban environment is a land occupied by buildings, structures for residences, institutional, and industrial sites. The urban environment has public transportation, higher and more densely populated buildings
5: What is a suburban environment?
Suburban environments are located on the outskirts of cities. Structures are lower and stretched apart more. They offer the same services in the cities like schools and health care facilities.
6: What is a rural environment?
Rural environments are areas with large amounts of land with lower populations than urban and suburban environments. Structures are far apart and share schools or hospitals.
7: What is an urban heat island? Explain.
An urban heat island are made up of surfaces that are impermeable and dry, which causes urban regions to become warmer than the rural surroundings and creates an island of higher temperatures
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, heart related illnesses and can 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 trees and vegetative cover, creating green roofs, using green pavements, and installing cool roofs can help reduce the urban heat island
10: What are green roofs and what are their advantages?
A green roof is a roof that is covered with vegetation and soil. Advantages would be air quality, water quality, and heat dissipation.
11: What is a cool pavement?
A cool pavement is made up of 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 so a open cell structure allowing air and water to pass is created
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 than the surrounding rural areas and 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 higher population and bunched up structures. The surface in the urban areas are impermeable and The cannot absorb water making the pavements warm/ hot. Urban areas also have higher temperature due to population density. Rural area structures are far apart and there is a smaller population. These lands are permeable which allows the surface temperature 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
There are more people in the city for jobs which contributes to the increase in transportation in order to get to their jobs, which means higher emission of CO2
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 cap-and-trade meaning that companies buy the maximum amount of CO2 they are able emit into the atmosphere. This causes the businesses to rethink their emissions and could make them resort to using renewable resources. Another action is to tax on air pollution which can lower a businesses budget, thus making them emit less greenhouse gases to save money.
Regional climate is the general climatic condition of the local plants and animals. Microclimate is the climate at a 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 which 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 the entry of water into the soil mantle.
4: What is an urban environment?
An urban environment is a land occupied by buildings, structures for residences, institutional, and industrial sites. The urban environment has public transportation, higher and more densely populated buildings
5: What is a suburban environment?
Suburban environments are located on the outskirts of cities. Structures are lower and stretched apart more. They offer the same services in the cities like schools and health care facilities.
6: What is a rural environment?
Rural environments are areas with large amounts of land with lower populations than urban and suburban environments. Structures are far apart and share schools or hospitals.
7: What is an urban heat island? Explain.
An urban heat island are made up of surfaces that are impermeable and dry, which causes urban regions to become warmer than the rural surroundings and creates an island of higher temperatures
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, heart related illnesses and can 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 trees and vegetative cover, creating green roofs, using green pavements, and installing cool roofs can help reduce the urban heat island
10: What are green roofs and what are their advantages?
A green roof is a roof that is covered with vegetation and soil. Advantages would be air quality, water quality, and heat dissipation.
11: What is a cool pavement?
A cool pavement is made up of 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 so a open cell structure allowing air and water to pass is created
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 than the surrounding rural areas and 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 higher population and bunched up structures. The surface in the urban areas are impermeable and The cannot absorb water making the pavements warm/ hot. Urban areas also have higher temperature due to population density. Rural area structures are far apart and there is a smaller population. These lands are permeable which allows the surface temperature 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
There are more people in the city for jobs which contributes to the increase in transportation in order to get to their jobs, which means higher emission of CO2
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 cap-and-trade meaning that companies buy the maximum amount of CO2 they are able emit into the atmosphere. This causes the businesses to rethink their emissions and could make them resort to using renewable resources. Another action is to tax on air pollution which can lower a businesses budget, thus making them emit less greenhouse gases to save money.