Lesson 4 Thermal Energy
Completion requirements
Thermal Energy and the Hydrologic Cycle
The presence of large bodies of water plays a huge role on the climate in the areas surrounding them.
D4.19 Clouds travelling over North America
Due to its high specific heat capacity, water is able to absorb, store, and release large amounts of thermal energy without affecting its own temperature much. This means that areas around large bodies of water have much less variation in their climate. The water is able to release thermal energy when the temperature starts to get very cold and absorb thermal energy when the temperature gets very warm. It can also create warmer or colder climates depending on if it is a warmer or colder body of water.
Due to its strong hydrogen bonds, water has relatively high heats of fusion and vaporization. This means that water absorbs a large amount of thermal energy when changing from a solid to a liquid or a liquid to a gas. This contributes to the movement of thermal energy around Earth. As the water evaporates into the atmosphere, it absorbs a large amount of thermal energy. This water vapour then travels to a different area of Earth where the water changes back to a liquid or a solid to form precipitation. This releases a large amount of thermal energy into that area of Earth.
In the next lesson, we will take what was discussed in this lesson and apply it to global wind patterns and ocean currents to see how they affect climate.
Due to its strong hydrogen bonds, water has relatively high heats of fusion and vaporization. This means that water absorbs a large amount of thermal energy when changing from a solid to a liquid or a liquid to a gas. This contributes to the movement of thermal energy around Earth. As the water evaporates into the atmosphere, it absorbs a large amount of thermal energy. This water vapour then travels to a different area of Earth where the water changes back to a liquid or a solid to form precipitation. This releases a large amount of thermal energy into that area of Earth.
In the next lesson, we will take what was discussed in this lesson and apply it to global wind patterns and ocean currents to see how they affect climate.