Environmental Systems and Societies · Topic 2: Ecology

ES2.4 — Climate and biomes

Environmental Systems and Societies · SL / HL · syllabus-mapped notes

1. Climate, weather and the distribution of biomes

   Climate versus weather, what a biome is, and how temperature, precipitation and insolation determine which biome develops.

2. Atmospheric circulation, oceans and shifting biomes

   The tricellular model and latitude, how oceans and currents distribute heat, and the poleward, upslope shift of biomes under warming.

3. HL: Climate types and biome development

   The three general climate types linked to biomes, and why the predicted biome may not develop because of secondary or human influences.

4. HL: ENSO and tropical cyclones

   The El Nino Southern Oscillation, how El Nino and La Nina develop and affect climate and productivity, and warming-driven cyclone intensity.