Definitions chapter 2: Climate

Question 1

Weather

Answer 1

The combination of temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind, cloudiness, and other atmospheric conditions at a specific place and time

Question 2

Climate

Answer 2

Long-term average pattern of local, regional and global weather

Question 3

Greenhouse Effect

Answer 3

Selective energy absorption by carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which allows short wavelength energy to pass through but absorbs longer wavelengths and reflects heat back to earth

Question 4

Greenhouse Gas

Answer 4

A gas that absorbs long wave radiation and thus contributes to the greenhouse effect when present in the atmosphere; includes water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides, and ozone.

Question 5

Net Radiation

Answer 5

The difference between incoming (absorbed) and outgoing (emitted) electromagnetic radiation (both shortwave and long wave) for an object

Question 6

Coriolis Effect

Answer 6

Physical consequence of the law of conservation of angular momentum; as a result of Earth’s rotation, a moving object veers to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere relative to Earth’s surface.

Question 7

Equatorial Low

Answer 7

A low air pressure zone near the surface of the equatorial zone

Question 8

Subtropical High

Answer 8

A semipermanent high-air-pressure belt at the surface encircling the Earth

Question 9

Westerlies

Answer 9

The dominant east-to-west motion of the winds centered over the middle latitudes of both hemispheres

Question 10

Trade Winds

Answer 10

Tropical easterly winds that blow in a steady direction from the subtropical high-pressure areas to the equatorial low-pressure areas between the latitudes 30 and 40 north and south; these winds are generally northeasterly in the Northern Hemisphere and southeasterly in the Southern Hemisphere

Question 11

Gyre

Answer 11

Circular motion of water in the major ocean basins

Question 12

Polar Easterlies

Answer 12

Easterly wind located at high latitudes poleward of the sub polar low

Question 13

Relative Humidity

Answer 13

Water vapor content of the air at a given temperature, expressed as a percentage of the water vapor needed for saturation at that temperature

Question 14

Dew Point Temperature

Answer 14

Temperature at which condensation of water in the atmosphere begins

Question 15

Continentality

Answer 15

Land areas farther from the coast (or other large bodies of water) experience a greater seasonal variation in temperature than do coastal areas

Question 16

Rain Shadow

Answer 16

A dry region on the leeward side of a mountain range resulting from a reduction in rainfall