Lab 4a Net Primary Productivity Go to http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov Click Global Maps. Click the Land Surface Temperature map. 1. What do negative Land Surface Temperature values mean? (1) Press Play on the map to play the animation. 2. Greenland has a low Land Surface Temperature year-round. Why? (2) 3. In the United States, the Land Surface Temperature is lower in the North than in the South year-round. Why? (2) Go to NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory at https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/Links to an external site. to see Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide. 4. How do monthly mean CO2 concentrations change over the course of one year at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawai’i? Explain this pattern. (1) Lab 4b Changes in Global Forest Cover Go to http://http://earthenginepartners.appspot.comLinks to an external site. to see the Global Forest Change map. 5. How are trees defined there? (1) 6. What is meant by “Forest Cover Loss”? By “Forest Cover Gain”? (2) Click on “Data Products” and choose “Loss/Extent/Gain (Red/Green/Blue)” from its menu. 7. In what ranges of latitudes are most forests found? Why? (Think about the general circulation of air and global precipitation patterns. Refer to Figures 5-24, 5-25, and 6-35). (2) 8. Which areas show the greatest amount of forest loss? What major biomes are located in those areas? (2) In the “Example Locations” menu, choose “Deforestation in Paraguay” and click on “Zoom to area.” Use the following “Data Products” to answer the questions that follow: “Forest Cover Loss 2000-2016 (Transparent)”; “Forest Cover Gain 2000-2012 (Transparent)”; “2000 Percent Tree Cover (Transparent).” 9. How does forest loss compare with forest gain here? (2) 10. Zoom in on three levels and pan around northern Paraguay. Use the graphic scale in the map to visually gain a sense of the size of the forest clearings in northern and western Paraguay. Approximately how large are they? What do the size and shape of the clearings tell you about the type of economic activity practiced here? Hint: Read the description at the bottom right-hand column. (2) In the “Example Locations” menu, choose “Finnish and Russian Forestry” and click on “Zoom to area.” Use the following “Data Products” to answer the questions that follow: “Forest Cover Loss 2000-2016 (Transparent)”; “Forest Cover Gain 2000-2012 (Transparent)”; “2000 Percent Tree Cover (Transparent).” 11. How does forest loss compare with forest gain here on the Finnish and Russian sides? (2) 12. Zoom in on five levels and pan around the area. Use the graphic scale in the map to visually gain a sense of the size of the forest clearings in Finland and/or Russia. Approximately how large are they? What do their size, shape, and amount of forest loss/gain tell you about the type of economic activity practiced here? How does this compare to the situation in Paraguay? Hint: Read the description at the bottom right-hand column. (2) Lab 4c Climate Change and Shifting Species Range: North American Birds Go to http://climate.audubon.org to see the Audubon Society’s report on how the distribution of North American birds will shift due to climate change. Scroll down to Explore by Flyway. Select a bird species and answer the questions below. 13: What is the name of your bird species? (1) 14. In what Flyway is the bird species found? (1) 15. What is the overall species vulnerability status? (2) 16. What is their habitat like? (2) Lab 4d Biomes: Analyzing Global Terrestrial Ecosystems Navigate to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fWs7HZQvvxl9dNj4dN4Mszy-LFyVP7RM/view?usp=share_linkLinks to an external site. Click Download to Download the Disappearing Forests kmz. Open Google Earth Pro. Click File. Click Import. The Disappearing Forest KMZ file displays. 17. Click on the circle icons to review the deforestation information for the different regions. What do you notice about the percentage of deforestation around the world? Which region has the most deforestation? Which region has the least? Do you notice any patterns in the data? (3) The rubric below is what will be used in grading your lab submission. Use this as a guide to formulate your answers. The actual questions as well as the supporting lecture material are contained in the link above. Write up your submission in a separate document, then when you are ready to turn in your lab, click the Submit Assignment button and attach your write-up. See the Introduction to Labs video for more instructions. Labs in this course require several freeware software products. This lab may require one of the following. For more information, see the lab handout.
