APES Unit 2: Weather and Climate Flashcards
Weather
short term atmospheric conditions (hours or days)
Warm front
warm air rises over cold dense air - moisture forms layers or clouds
Cold front
cold air is denser - stays close to the ground - high surface winds and thunderstorms produced
Climate
long term atmospheric conditions
what is climate determined by?
uneven heating of the earth’s surface - location relative to the equator
Insolation
the amount of solar radiation (energy from the sun’s rays) reaching an area
Coriolis Effect
as the earth rotates heated air masses rising above the equator and moving north and south to cooler areas are deflected to the west or east
Sea breeze
cool breeze off the water - wind will blow from high pressure over water, to low pressure over the land
Land breeze
cool winds blow off shore - air over the ocean is now warmer than over land
Hadley Cells
air rises near the equator and flows north or south and sinks again near a latitude of 30 degrees in both hemispheres
Westerlies
winds coming from the west
easterlies
winds coming from the east
jet stream
occurs at boundaries of these winds, horizontal river of fast moving air high in the atmosphere
trade winds
air movements towards the equator
prevailing westerlies
between 30 and 60 degrees latitude - winds that move towards the poles - curve to the east
polar easterlies
60 degrees latitude in both hemispheres, prevailing westerlies join with polar easterlies to reduce upward motion
Doldrums
trade winds coming from the south and north meet at the equator
Gyers
long ocean circular patterns due to global wind
upwelling zones
areas of ocean winds blow warm surface water away from a land mass, drawing up colder, deeper water to replace it
cold ocean currents
large masses of cold water that move towards the equator, from high altitude to low altitude.