Blog #7

So through this entire semester we have learned about many things that actually connect to our everyday living. We learned that the earth takes twenty four hours to rotate around, hence how we have day and night. It takes a full year for it to orbit around the earth, and the earth tilts toward and away from the sun and that is how we have longer days than nights on certain parts of the year and vice versa.
We also learned about the times of the year when we reach the peak (or equinox of a season). The circulation of wind is caused by different types of air pressure, and with wind, comes different weather patterns. I learned that violent storms are usually a Cold Front storm and calmer more gradually spread out storms are more of a warm front.
I learned that there are different climates of weathers and that the northern part of California is a Mediterranean biome.
The different layers of the earth are made from different things, from solid rock, to plastic, to liquid magma, to solid iron. The outermost layer of the earth is the crust and it is made of plates that move and is constantly, yet slowly changing the face of the earth, as countries and continents will forever be moving.

Blog #6

Recently we started to discuss the building and breaking down of mountains. Living in Sacramento we do not get to see actual mountains. However I have driven all up and down the westside of this country and I have seen the Rockies, Sierras, and Grand Canyon. A lot of the Rockies is sedimentary rock, and the Sierra Nevada's are Limestone. This building up process of these mountain ranges has taken years, and since they are still young and the plates are still constantly moving, they will continue to grow higher and higher. But due to the active movement of our Pacific plate, there are extreme differences in California. Death Valley ( the lowest point in the United States of America) and Mount Whitney ( the highest point in the United States) are literally only about one hundred and fifty miles apart.
This active movement might be another reason our weather patterns have slowly changed. Along with global warming, these two factors have to be the two biggest reasons why we are still having seventy five degree weather in Northern California, in December. As the plates move further north, so will the weather patterns, but since the north is getting warmer, so will we.

Blog #5

So we are in December now, and still have clear sunny skies out here in Sacramento and California in general. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I know it is still freezing cold to me at night time. I get sick a lot living in Sacramento. It is a dry cold, until it rains and that makes me more vulnerable to get sick.
This far into the winter season usually consists of cold, rain, and the flu. Once December hit last year, I was in layers and layers of clothes, along with a beenie and tube socks. This year i'm still in shorts, and a hoody.
I plan on moving to Southern California in the Fall of 2010 for the remainder of my college career. From what I hear, Southern California is a lot sunnier throughout the entire year. Winter included it is still in the Mid 70s for the most part of the calendar year. This is the type of weather I can get used to. I love living in the Bay Area, and can tolerate living in Sacramento, but it is too wet and cold for me.