Climate - Chapter 10

Question 1

All life on earth exists in the _____.

Answer 1

Biosphere

• a thin layer of air and land.

Question 2

What does the term “Radiation Budget” mean?

Answer 2

Energy from the sun must be balanced by the energy lost back to space, or else the planet will warm up.

Question 3

Albedo

Answer 3

The ability of a surface to reflect energy.

Question 4

What is the Earth’s atmosphere made of?

Answer 4

21% oxygen gas, 78% nitrogen gas and 1% trace gases.

Question 5

What is the difference between Climate and Weather?

Answer 5

Climate is a long-term trend in temp

• pressure, humidity, precipitation…

Weather is what is happening now

• Rain, thunder, snow…

Question 6

What is the Earth’s angle of inclination?

Answer 6

23.5 degrees

Question 7

What are the three major climate zones on Earth?

Answer 7

Polar, temperate and tropical.

Question 8

What are the dividing lines for the climate zones?

Answer 8

Arctic Circle, the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle.

Question 9

Specific heat capacity

Answer 9

The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1g of a substance to 1 degree.

Question 10

True or False :

1. Water is a fluid, and the heat absorbed can be mixed
2. Water has a small heat capacity
3. Water has large heats of fusion and vaporization
4. Water has a high albedo

Answer 10

1. True
2. False
3. True
4. False

Question 11

What is the Gulf Stream?

Answer 11

the Gulf Stream is a large surface current that starts in the Caribbean’s warm shallow seas and follows North America’s eastern coastline, curving past Newfoundland and ending up at the British Isles, where it is called the North Atlantic Drift.

Question 12

What causes the Coriolis effect?

Answer 12

Convection currents on a rotating Earth.