20 vocab words Flashcards
a graph on which two or more climate variables are plotted for each month of the year
climograph
system for classifying the worlds climates on the basis of temperature and precipitation
Koppen climate system
is a phenomenon associated with warmer surface water in the eastern Pacific
El Nino
A climate event in the eastern Pacific Ocean in which surface waters are colder than normal.
La Nina
comes from natural recorders of climate variability, such as seafloor sediments, glacial ice, fossil pollen, and tree-growth rings, as well as from historical documents
proxy data
a measure of the elliptical shape of the earths orbit around the sun
eccentricity
measure of the angle of tilt of the earths axis
obliquity
A slow conical motion of earth’s Axis of rotation, caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun on earth’s equatorial bulge.
precession
any period of time during which glaciers covered a large part of the earth’s surface
ice age
a wave of unusually hot weather 3-5 days
heat wave
a wave of unusually cold weather
cold wave
A low plain adjacent to a river that is formed chiefly of river sediment and is subject to flooding
floodplain
A long period of dry weather
drought
map or chart showing meteorlogical data obtained simultaneously over a wide area
synoptic chart
A chart that shows how one or more weather variables has changed at a station over a given period of time or how the variables are likely to change with time.
meteogram
