Chapter 28 Flashcards
A layer of the atmosphere extending an average of 12 km above Earth’s surface.
Troposphere
This occurs when air temperature increases with altitude and the air becomes stable.
Temperature Inversion
A natural process in which certain gases in the atmosphere warm a planet as they absorb and emit infrared radiation.
Greenhouse Effect
What can Earth’s atmosphere be divided into layers based on?
The differences in composition and temperature.
What gas makes up the majority of the atmosphere?
Nitrogen, which is 78%.
What is the second most abundant gas in the atmosphere?
Oxygen, which is 21%.
What is the remaining 1% of gases in the atmosphere?
Argon.
What is the ozone layer?
It is a layer of the atmosphere that protects us from harmful radiation from the Sun.
Withing the troposphere, the higher in altitude it goes, does the temperature decrease or increase?
It decreases.
How many layers are there in the atmosphere?
5
What are the names of the atmospheric layers starting closest to Earth’s surface, to farthest from Earth’s surface?
Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.
What layer is the ozone layer in?
The stratosphere.
Within the mesosphere, does the temperature increase or decrease with altitude?
It decreases.
Does the thermosphere and the exosphere effect weather?
No, neither of them do.
Where does 100% of our solar energy come from?
The Sun.
How much solar radiation is absorbed by Earth’s SURFACE?
50%.
What percent of solar radiation is REFLECTED back by Earth’s surface?
5%.
How much solar radiation is absorbed by PARTICLES in the atmosphere?
20%.
How much solar radiation is reflected by CLOUDS and OTHER PARTICLES?
25%.
What are the three basic cloud types?
Stratus, cumulus, and cirrus.
Describe stratus clouds.
Layered, sheet-like clouds, associated with rain.
Describe cumulus clouds.
Puffy, occur in fair weather.
Describe cirrus clouds.
Wispy, high-altitude.
What is the process in which water moves from the land to the atmosphere, and then eventually comes back to the land?
The water cycle.
What are the steps of the water cycle?
Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, and then transpiration (repeat).
A narrow band of fast-moving, high-altitude air.
Jet Stream
The apparent deflection of an object due to Earth’s rotation.
Coriolis Effect
A large volume of air with uniform moisture and temperature throughout.
Air Mass
The zones in which air masses interact in.
Weather Fronts
How many jet streams are there in the world?
4
How many pressure systems are there in the world?
2
What is a low pressure system also known as?
Low (L)
Which way does the air flow for a low pressure system?
Counterclockwise
What are some results of a low pressure system?
Air rises, resulting in cloud formation and precipitation
What is a high pressure system also known as?
High (H)
Which way does a high pressure rotate?
Clockwise
What is the result of a high pressure air system?
Air sinks which causes clear skies
What are the 4 weather fronts?
Cold, warm, stationary, and occluded fronts
How are cold fronts created?
Cold air forces warm air upward in a fast and chaotic manner
How is a cold front represented on a weather forecast?
By blue triangles on top
How are warm fronts created?
Warm air gently rises gently above cold air?
How are warm fronts represented on a weather forecast?
Red half-circles on top
How are stationary fronts created?
Cold and warm air masses meet and neither front advances
How are stationary fronts represented on weather forecasts?
Alternating red half-circles and blue triangles
How are occluded fronts created?
A fast moving cold fronts overtakes a slow warm front
How are occluded fronts represented on weather forecasts?
Purple half-circles beside purple triangles on top
A climate that is strongly affected by an ocean is called a what?
Maritime Climate
A climate that is not directly affected by an ocean is called a what?
Continental Climate
Blows from over the water toward ;and in the afternoon, when the land is warmer than the water.
Sea breeze
What is climate?
The long-term average of weather conditions.
What is weather?
Weather is the day to day outside condition.
What are the 5 spheres that make up the Earth’s system?
Atmosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere.
What is the atmosphere?
All the air around us.
What is the biosphere?
Everything organic.
What is the cryosphere?
Frozen water, snow, ice, and glaciers.
What is the lithosphere?
Earth’s outermost layer?
What is the primary factor that affects climate at any given location?
Latitude.
Where is solar radiation most intense on Earth’s surface?
The equator.
At what angle do the sun’s rays hit the tropical zone?
90 degrees.
At what angle do the sun’s rays hit the temperate zone?
45 degrees.
At what angle do the sun’s rays hit the polar zones?
30 degrees.
What other factors determine climate?
Precipitation, mountains, and water.
On the windward side, what are the conditions like?
Cool, wet, and lots of vegetation.
On the leeward side, what are the conditions like?
The air is dry and warm, and there is little to no vegetation on that mountain-side.
What is land breeze?
The opposite of a sea breeze; the wind comes from the land, to the water and occurs at night.
What kind of climate zone and vegetation does Lamar have?
Warm arid, warm semi-arid, desert, and grassland.
An increase in average temperatures on Earth.
Global warming
El Nino
The warming of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of western South America that occurs every 3 to 10 years.
La Nina
Occurs when trade winds in the Pacific are unusually strong and surface water is colder than normal.
What are the two changes that Earth’s climate undergoes?
Seasonal and long-term changes.
How do seasonal changes happen?
As the Earth revolves around the sun?
Which hemisphere experiences summer?
The hemisphere tilted towards the sun?
What was the period of time called when the Earth was mostly covered in ice?
The ice age?
How long ago did the world reach its current climate?
3,000
What factors could cause climate change?
A change in the Earth’s axis, the orbit shape, and the distance from the sun
What are some human factors that can change climate?
Energy consumption, deforestation, and industrial and agricultural practice.
What is deforestation?
It is the removal of large areas of the forest land.
A round, three-dimensional object, the surface of which is the same distance from the center in all directions.
Sphere
An elongated, closed curve with two foci.
Ellipse
What were some ancient observations that prove that the Earth is a sphere?
Objects fall straight to the surface, Earth’s shadow on the mood during a lunar eclipse is always curved, and people in different parts of the world see different stars.
What are two factors that effect gravitational pull.
The mass of an object and the distance of an object.
Which diameter of Earth is longer?
The equator.
What does the magnetic field protect Earth from?
Harmful solar radiation.
Which magnetic pole is located in the northern hemisphere?
The southern magnetic pole.
At what degrees is Earth’s axis tilted?
11.7 degrees.
Can magnetic poles flip?
Yes.
What is the large scale movements called when the magnetic poles flip?
Magnetic reversals.
How often do magnetic reversals occur?
200,000 years.
How long ago did our most recent magnetic reversal occur.
780,000 years ago.
Within Earth’s magnetic field, what part deflects harmful radiation from the Sun?
The magnetosphere.
How are the auroras created?
Electrically-charged particles collide with atoms in the atmosphere and emit light.
When is Earth closest to the Sun?
In the month of January.
When is Earth farthest away from the Sun?
In the month of July.
An area 15 degrees wide in which the time is the same.
Time zone
The spinning of Earth on its axis, an imaginary line drawn from Earth’s North Pole to its South Pole.
Rotation
The motion of Earth in an elliptical orbit around the Sun.
Revolution
Defined as the plane of Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
Ecliptic
Occurs when Earth’s rotational axis is tilted directly toward the Sun or away from the Sun.
Solstice
When Earth’s rotational axis is perpendicular to a line drawn from the center of Earth to the center of the Sun.
Equinox
Who devised a method of timekeeping around 3000 B.C.
The Babylonians.
What was the symbol for degree taken from?
The Babylonian symbol for the Sun.
How many degrees does the Earth spin in one day?
360 degrees.
How many hours does it take the Earth to make one full rotation?
24 hours.
How many degrees does the Earth spin in one hour?
15 degrees.
What direction does the Sun rise?
East
What direction does the Sun set?
West
True or false: All time zones are the exact same size?
False, they are modified to fit around cities, states, country borders, and other key sites.
How many time zones are there in the world?
24
Which direction do you move to add hours to the time?
East
Which direction do you move to subtract hours from the time?
West
How many time zones are there in the U.S.
6
What are the names of the time zones?
Atlantic/Alaskan, Pacific, Mountain, Central, Eastern, and Hawaiian time
What is solar day?
From where the Sun is at when it is noon, to the next day at noon.
What is sidereal day?
When you look at a certain star one night when it first comes over the horizon and then you see it the next night at the exact time.
What are the two main reasons for seasons?
Revolution and the tilt of the axis.
Which 2 seasons have a solstice?
Winter and Summer.
Which month is the summer solstice?
June 21st.
Which month is the winter solstice?
December 21st.
Which two seasons are equinoxes?
Spring and Fall.
Which month is the spring equinox?
March 20th or 21st.
Which month is the fall equinox?
September 22nd or 23rd.
When is the longest day of the year?
June 21st.
When is the shortest day of the year?
December 21st.
When are the days almost 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night?
