Understanding Earth's tilt, our seasons, and the impact on seasonal temperature extremes. Work through the activities...

 

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Understanding Earth's tilt, our seasons, and the impact on seasonal temperature extremes. Work through the activities below and answer the following questions. Background: Earth's axis is tilted 23°27' or approximately 23.5° from its orbital plane, this is called the angle of inclination. Since Earth's axis always points to the same location in space as the planet orbits the sun, the angle of inclination is an important factor in describing the location of the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and also the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. These very specific latitudes are Tropic of Capricorn. (23.5°S) important to today's climate. In this activity we will explore the impact of changing the planet's angle of inclination on the weather and climate. Materials: Something to use as a globe and a cell phone flashlight. Arctic Circle (66.5'N) Tropic of Cancer. (23.5°N) Equator (0) Antarctic Circle (66.5'S) North Pole (90°N) South Pole (90'S) One impact of the angle inclination that we in Albany, NY (latitude 42.5°N) receive over 15 hours of daylight on the summer solstice and only about 9 hours of daylight on the winter solstice. Use your "globe" and your cell phone flashlight to prove to yourself that the winter days are in fact shorter than summer days by spinning your "globe" on is axis while the northern hemisphere is pointed toward or away from you. Now let's consider if the Earth were tilted at two new angles: (1) half of today's current tilt, to a new angle of 11.75° and (2) double today's current tilt, to a new angle of 47°. 1. With these new tilts, how would the latitudes corresponding to the new Tropic of Cancer and Arctic Circle change? Explain how you came to this conclusion. 2. With the double the tilt, estimate the hours of daylight we (in Albany) would receive on (i) the summer solstice and (ii) the winter solstice? Use your mini globe and cell phone flashlight to help answer this question. Explain your answer using diagrams as necessary. 3. How would the northern hemisphere seasons change in Albany on Earth with both of the new tilts? Explain this in terms of expected temperature relative to what we experience today, why, from a radiation perspective, would you expect these changes to the season. Understanding Earth's tilt, our seasons, and the impact on seasonal temperature extremes. Work through the activities below and answer the following questions. Background: Earth's axis is tilted 23°27' or approximately 23.5° from its orbital plane, this is called the angle of inclination. Since Earth's axis always points to the same location in space as the planet orbits the sun, the angle of inclination is an important factor in describing the location of the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and also the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. These very specific latitudes are Tropic of Capricorn. (23.5°S) important to today's climate. In this activity we will explore the impact of changing the planet's angle of inclination on the weather and climate. Materials: Something to use as a globe and a cell phone flashlight. Arctic Circle (66.5'N) Tropic of Cancer. (23.5°N) Equator (0) Antarctic Circle (66.5'S) North Pole (90°N) South Pole (90'S) One impact of the angle inclination that we in Albany, NY (latitude 42.5°N) receive over 15 hours of daylight on the summer solstice and only about 9 hours of daylight on the winter solstice. Use your "globe" and your cell phone flashlight to prove to yourself that the winter days are in fact shorter than summer days by spinning your "globe" on is axis while the northern hemisphere is pointed toward or away from you. Now let's consider if the Earth were tilted at two new angles: (1) half of today's current tilt, to a new angle of 11.75° and (2) double today's current tilt, to a new angle of 47°. 1. With these new tilts, how would the latitudes corresponding to the new Tropic of Cancer and Arctic Circle change? Explain how you came to this conclusion. 2. With the double the tilt, estimate the hours of daylight we (in Albany) would receive on (i) the summer solstice and (ii) the winter solstice? Use your mini globe and cell phone flashlight to help answer this question. Explain your answer using diagrams as necessary. 3. How would the northern hemisphere seasons change in Albany on Earth with both of the new tilts? Explain this in terms of expected temperature relative to what we experience today, why, from a radiation perspective, would you expect these changes to the season.

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1 According to question it would be with half of todays tilt which is 1175 ... View the full answer