Question one
The discovery of the solar system by Copernicus solar was the beginning of modern astronomy development. Later on, various astronomers made other discoveries. According to Redd (2017), these astronomers include Brahe and Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Giovanni Cassini, Christian Huygens, and Isaac Newton. Brahe and Kelper discovered ellipses (the path used by planets to travel around the sun). They also came up with three famous laws that astronomers use today to calculate planets motion. Galilei is famous for his optical telescope, which was nine times better and more effective than the previous telescopes (Redd, 2017). Using the telescope, Galileo was able to discover Saturn rings and Jupiter four main moons. Giovanni came after Galileo with an improved telescope and made the discovery of Saturn four moons. Christian, on the other hand, is famous for his nature of light theory He also discovered the Saturn moons commonly referred to as Titan (Redd, 2017). Isaac contributions in the astronomy field are mainly on the newton’s laws that are still used to date.
The reason why it took so long to overthrow the geocentric view of the universe is based on people believing that the earth was the central point of the universe and did not move and therefore any other theories contravening the same could not be accepted. Moreover, people lacked inventions such as telescope that would enable them to make more discoveries that would challenge their views. The rigidity in people beliefs proves to be the hindrance in new discoveries and makes it hard to change people views and perceptions even today.
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Question two
Geography refers to a scientific study of space. In addition, it can be defined as the study of the space, human activities on earth, and the effects of such human activities on people (Aintablian, 2019). Geography is different from other sciences since it does not focus on a single study like other sciences such as botany. There are weaknesses and strengths of geography study due to its holistic nature. The strengths of geography study are the ability to link functional interrelationships that are overlooked in narrow fields (Aintablian, 2019). Geography holistic nature causes other science fields research to be overlooked. However, due to geography simplicity, it has a weakness of missing critical elements of cause and effect of something. The holistic nature of geography has also enabled discovering new ideas, features, and interrelationships of spatial (Aintablian, 2019). However, it has also had a feebleness of shallow studies being conducted in various areas because of overlooking critical elements.
Question 3
Weather can be defined as the state of a place atmosphere condition in the short run. On the other hand, the climate can be described as the statistical analysis of the weather pattern and conditions of a particular place in the long term. Both weather and climate describe the atmospheric conditions of a specific place over a given time. The only difference between climate and weather is the time taken in analyzing the atmospheric conditions. The greenhouse effect refers to a condition in which dangerous gases are released to the atmosphere causing the infrared radiation being trapped (Lallanila, 2018). The result of the greenhouse is earth becoming warmer beyond the required levels. The condition is referred as global warming. According to Lallanila (2018), global warming is a result of the greenhouse effect that is attributed to human activities. The lives of fauna and flora are threatened by global warming since the earth is likely to become inhabitable for their existence. The high temperatures, exposure to UV rays and declining water bodies threatens the lives of people, animals, and plants .
Question four
The gradient force refers to force occurring because of differences in air density. Warm and cold air have different pressures and thus causing a force (gradient force) when they come together. The force tends to move in the direction of higher pressure to low pressure. Additionally, the speed of the wind is greater on the higher pressure and lower on the lower pressure side. Coriolis Effect refers to the deflection pattern demonstrated by objects traveling above and around the sun. Coriolis Effect has no impact on the speed of the wind. However, it causes the winds to change their direction and move on the opposite side. On the other hand, the frictional force refers to the resistant force generated by objects or surfaces gliding alongside each other. Friction force causes a change in the direction of air aloft but does not have an impact on the speed of the air. Winds tend to be slow, weaker at the equator, and stronger when moving towards the northern hemisphere. The scenario is well explained by the weak pressure gradients and low-pressure system at the equator and increased pressure gradients as you move towards the hemispheres.
Areas around the equator tend to receive higher precipitation and rain due to the convergence of winds from the northern and southern hemisphere. Additionally, areas around the equator have more precipitation due to the persistent solar heating causing increased air moisture, which is cooled and forms rainfall. Apart from the high temperatures and winds bringing moisture, areas around the equator have mountains that cause high precipitation in the surrounding areas.
Question five
First, the Mediterranean and humid tropical climate enjoy almost similar summers characterized by hot or warm temperatures. The difference arises in humidity levels, whereby subtropical summers have a higher level of humidity whereas Sothern California has dry summers (Shaw, 2019). In California, the heat is dry during the summer. On the other hand, areas around South Carolina have a wet humid climate during the summer, making it comfortable for people to enjoy. When it comes to precipitation, subtropical areas such as South Carolina tend to enjoy rainfall throughout the year, whereas California enjoys rain mainly during the winter (Shaw, 2019). The climate experienced in South Carolina and California is similar to those experienced in other areas in Eastern United States and Western United States. The eastern areas tend to have humid climate due to the collision of maritime tropical air masses and polar type air masses. The collision causes moisture and less dense tropical air being uplifted leading to precipitation. On the contrary, the western parts are less humid due to the cool ocean currents. The western hot and dry summers are attributed to the cold ocean currents. The hot and humid summer in eastern sides is due to the warmer ocean currents.
The El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) refers to temperatures fluctuations between the atmosphere and pacific ocean (Carlowicz, & Uz, 2017). The situation occurs mainly on the east-central Equatorial Pacific. ENSO occurs in two main phases that are La Nina (cold phase) and El Nino (warm phase). El Nino is a Spanish word meaning the Christ child or the Little Boy (Carlowicz, & Uz, 2017). Some of the ocean changes during El Nino include surfaces water becoming warmer, sea surface heights changes, and warm water movement towards the east and ocean color changes. The pacific trade winds are responsible for the warm water movement towards the east of the ocean. On the other hand, the ocean color change is attributed to warm water curtailing the rich nutrient water containing chlorophyll. The atmosphere changes include changes in the wind speed and distribution, changes in cloudiness and precipitation and temperatures. The weakening of easterly trade winds causes a change in wind direction and speed (Carlowicz, & Uz, 2017). Changes in cloudiness and precipitation are due to wind and heat distribution changes across the pacific. The overall effect of the above changes includes decline in marine life on Pacific Ocean, drought in some areas such Indonesia and hurricanes due to nascent tropical storms during the period of their occurrence. The decline in marine life means less seafood, which has a direct impact on people since there is a decrease in the supply of their seafood. El Nino also causes changes in weather patterns in other American areas.
References
Aintablian, X.W. (2019). Geography as a science: Exploring the discipline of geography as a science. ThoughtCo [Online]. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/geography-as-a-science-1434997
Carlowicz, M., & Uz, S.S. (2017). El Niñ o: Pacific wind and current changes bring warm, wild weather. NASA [ONLINE]. Retrieved from https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/ElNino
Lallanila, M. (2018). What is the greenhouse effect? Live Science [Online]. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/37743-greenhouse-effect.html
Redd, N.T. (2017). Famous astronomers: List of great scientists in astronomy. Space [online]. Retrieved from https://www.space.com/16095-famous-astronomers.html
Ritter, M. (2019). Humid continental climate. The physical environment [online]. Retrieved from https://www.earthonlinemedia.com/ebooks/tpe_3e/climate_systems/humid_continental.html
Shaw, E. 2019. Differences between Mediterranean climate and humid subtropical climate. Sciencing [online]. Retrieved from https://sciencing.com/differences-between-mediterranean-climate-humid-subtropical-climate-21181.html
