Homework Question on Natural regions, landforms, and climate of California
Readings:
- Schoenherr, A. (1995) California’s natural regions, Chapter 1 in A Natural History of California. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press (pp. 1-17)
- Selby, W. (2006) Modern geology and geomorphology, Chapter 3 in Rediscovering the Golden State: California Geography. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
- Selby, W. (2006) California’s weather and climate, Chapter 4 in Rediscovering the Golden State: California Geography.
- Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, B. (2009) How will changes in global climate influence California? California Agriculture (April-June), pp. 59-66
- Discuss Schoenherr’s chapter on natural regions in California. Focus on the connections between landforms, climate, and vegetation that make each region unique. Use examples.
- According to Wiley, B. (2009) how is California being affected by global climate change? What can we do about it?
- Discuss key concepts in Selby’s chapter on California’s physical landscapes. How have the landforms of California been shaped by the five natural processes identified by Selby – tectonics, volcanism, weathering, mass movements, and erosion? Use examples in your discussion.
- Discuss key points in Selby’s chapter on California’s weather and climate. What is the significance of latitude, air masses, and elevation in explaining weather and climate? What explains the geography of California climates? (Refer to the map on p. 124).
- What is distinctive about the Mediterranean climate?
Requirements:
- Breakdown the paper into 4 paragraphs.
- Each number above has to have a paragraph.
- Do not use fancy words, make it pretty simple.
Homework Answer on Natural regions, landforms, and climate of California
California is classified into ten landforms and natural regions including the Sierra Nevada, Klamath Mountains, Cascade Range, Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, Great Basin Desert, Mojave Desert, Colorado Desert, and Great Central Valley. The shape of the mentioned landforms influences the climate of California, and in turn, the climate influences the distribution of plants and animals in the region.
For instance, air masses from the Pacific Ocean rise over the Sierra Nevada, and as they rise, they are cooled, and the water vapor condenses. Thus, Sierra Nevada’s western slope receives a high amount of precipitation and has dense vegetation. Besides, cold ocean currents along the coastline in California result in desert climates on the neighboring coastal region, and there is little or no vegetation in such desert areas.
California’s agriculture is being affected in various ways by the global climate change. First, it is expected that annual mean surface temperatures are on the rise, and this has resulted into California having fewer frost days, longer growing seasons, more warm night, and more heat waves, which jeopardize agriculture in the state.