1
Geog310. Review questions for mid-term exam
1. What’s difference between the weather and climate?
2. How to define climate change?
3. What percentage of population lives in urban areas in US?
4. What is NPP
5. What is the “common currency” for climate change, ecological, and economical
assessment.
6. Based on net radiation equation
Rn=(Q+q)*(1-a)+RL↓-RL↑, explain each term and discuss how each can be affected
by urbanization.
7. Three basic components of solar radiation based on its different wavelengths.
8. How solar intensity is related to solar angle? Under what condition does a wall
increase the solar angle?
9. What is subsolar point? What is the latitudinal range of subsolar point?
10. What natural surface of the earth has highest albedo and what surface has lowest
albedo?
11. Explain Stefan-Boltzmann’s law? If the object has a temperature of 6000K, what
is the energy intensity radiated from it?
12. Explain greenhouse effect.
13. What are the 6 greenhouse gases?
14. Explain each energy budget term: Rn+F=LE+H+G.
15. Over what regions and which season that F can be higher than Rn?
16. Under what type of climate does LE close to Rn and under what climate H is
close to Rn?
17. What is Bown ratio? Which city has the highest and which one has the lowest
Bowen ratio: Palm Beach FL; Yuma, Arizona; Astoria, Oregon. What kind of
climate it is when Bown ratio is low and what kind of climate id when it is high?
18. Based on Fig 2.6, lecture one (also exercise two). Please answer following
questions:
(a) What is the maximum insolation at the top of the atmosphere? Where and when it
occurred?
(b) What latitudinal belt has the smallest annual range of insolation (maximum value
minus minimum value)? What latitude belt has the largest annual range of
insolation.
19. How is the urban heat island intensity defined?
20. Urban heat island normally strongest during ________ (day; night) reflected in
higher ________ temperature (minimum, maximum).
21. Which season of the year the urban heat island is strongest in general? (Table 5.3,
lecture two)
22. Based on global average air temperature, the air temperature increases is about a
little over 0.5°C during the past over 100 years possibly due to increases in CO2.
If the observation of air temperature increases for a city, such as Paris, is about
1.7°C, do you think the temperature increases is contributed to CO2 increase and
is directly related to global warming? If not, why? (what else may have caused
this large temperature increase).
2
23. Compare the United States and Europe’s increases in urban heat island with
increases in population, which one has a faster rate of increase in urban heat
island given the same rate of population increases? What is your explanation for
this? (Fig 5.11, Lecture Two).
24. During net radiation deficit, air temperature continues to ________ (increase;
decrease) and during net radiation surplus, air temperature continues to _______
(increase; decrease).
25. When does daily maximum air temperature occur and when does the highest solar
radiation intensity occur? Do they occur at the same time? Why?
26. Compare weekend and week days, does urban heat island intensity different?
Why?
27. What is lapse rate?
28. What is inversion?
29. What impact of Urbanization has on the boundary layer’s air temperature profile
(during night and day respectively)?
30. How does wind influence the urban heat island? What is critical value of wind
speed to make heat island disappear for a city of one million populations?
31. What is heating degree days? How does urban heat island affect heating degree
days?
32. What is cooling degree days? How does urban heat island affect cooling degree
days?
33. How does urban heat island affect frost-free days and growing season?
34. What are the things people proposed that might reduce the urban heat island
effect?
35. What is apparent temperature index?
36. What is wind-chill equivalent temperature?
37. During winter, due to ____ indoor humidity, it is more likely to have respiratory
diseases (high, low).
38. What are the seven groups of adaptation strategies to atmospheric thermal and
stimuli by human? Which ones are involuntary and which ones are voluntary?
39. Energy balance of a body can be expressed by M+Q + or – R + or – C –E =S.
What is each term about and which term should be kept as zero for a healthy of a
body?
40. To stimulating a person, frequent change in temperature is important, especially
to a cooler one. What is the best season for this happen?
41. Depressing can be related to long spells of cold or hot. What is SAD? Which
season is more often related to SAD?
42. What kind of things people do to relieve SAD?
43. High humidity in hot weather make people feel _____ (hotter, colder), high
humidity in cold weather make people feel _______ (hotter, colder).
44. Humidity ______ (increases, decreases) heat stress in summer.
45. Wind speed _______ (increases, decreases) chilling effect in winter..
46. Which portion of solar radiation helps human body create vitamin D and prevent
bone disease?
47. What is climatotherapy?
48. What is acclimatization?
3
49. Can you think of an example of acclimatization for yourself?
50. Based on the climatic hypothesis of civilization: the highest civilization is
possible only under the most favorable climate. What is the temperature range for
civilization zone that proposed by Ellsworth Huntington?
51. What are the geographical areas that are identified as civilization zone by
Ellsworth Huntington.
52. What did Huntington believe is the most important component of physical stimuli
that control human efficiency?
53. List different life style, food, health, housing and clothing between people in
tropical region and polar region.
54. How does urbanization affect wind speed? Does it have different impacts during
day time and night time? Why?
55. How does absolute humidity change due to urbanization in general? Why?
56. In cold climate winter season, how does absolute humidity differ between urban
and rural area? Why?
57. How does relative humidity change due to urbanization? Why?
58. How does urbanization affect clouds? Why?
59. Do scientists have a consensus result regarding the impact of urbanization on fog?
Why?
60. How’s precipitation amount different between urban and rural areas? Why?
61. What are hydroscopic condensation nuclei?
62. Based on second exercises, what is the relationship between insolation and air
temperature at a middle latitude location? Why?
63. How does urbanization affect frequency of thunderstorms and hails?
64. Why study wind structure in a city is important?
65. What is land/sea breeze? When do they occur respectively?
66. What is mountain/valley breeze? When do they occur respectively?
67. What are the four atmospheric elements that direct affect human’s physical and
mental condition? What is ideal weather associated with these four elements?
68. What human body does when it experienced extreme low temperature? What are
the consequent disturbances?
69. What human body does when it experienced extreme high temperature? What are
the consequent disturbances?
70. What are the 7 adaptations human has been doing to live outside of its optimal
climate regimes? Which ones are voluntary and which ones are involuntary?
71. What is the most favorable air temperature for human to engage activities? What
is the temperature range associated with lowest human mortality?
72. Which season is considered most stimulating that has moderate temperature
change to cooler temperature?
73. The responds of mortality to heat wave is strongest in ____ climate, where hot
days are not common. (tropical; temperate; desert).