earth science test Flashcards
What is the water budget?
the water budget is a monthly account of what happens to water in a specific area over a year. - similar to a bank account with income and expenses
What is the ‘income’ of the water budget?
precipitation
what is the ‘expense’ of the water budget?
Potential Evapotranspiration
What is pontentiol evapotranspiration?
it is the amount of water that can pontentially evaporate
what is the primary source of Ep and what does this then mean about the relationship between Ep and temperature?
the primary source of Ep is the sun and this means that the warmer the temperature the higher Ep.
when does a water surplus occur?
when ground storage is full and it contunies to precipitate
what does a water surplus creat?
humid climates
when does a water deficit occur.
occurs when ground storage is empty and it does not precipitate
what does a water deficit create?
dry climate
What is a climate
a region’s weather conditions over a long period of time
what are the two main aspects of climate?
temp and moisture
what are the things that affect climate?
Latitude
Large bodies of water
Altitude
Mountain ranges
Ocean currents
Prevailing winds
vegetation
What is the biggest factor that affects climate?
Latitude
What areas on earth are warm and cold
areas near the equator and areas near the poles are cold
What is the relation ship between increasing distance from the equator and annual temperature?
As distance from equator increases the annuals temperature ranges widens
describe climate at coastal areas.
The climate is milder than inland areas and have cooler summers whiel winters are warmer
what does water do for climate? what deos itcause?
water will moderate climate causing inland areas to have wider annual temperature range than coastal areas
What is the relationship between altitude, temp and precipitation? what is one real world example of this relationship in action
as altitude increase, temperature decreases and precipitation increases. This can be seen through mountain peaks where at its high altitude above sea level it is very cool and snowfall i common due to precipitation increase
What do moutain ranges cause in climate.
They cause one side (the windward side) to be cooler and moist due to forcing sea winds to RECC and make precipitation while on the other side (leeward side) that air starts to cool, sink and warm making a climate that warm and has dry air
decribe the different side of a mountain in simple terms
Leeward side is hot and dry while windward side is cool and moist.
what is made on mountain peaks cause by the climbing sea winds?
Orographic clouds
How do ocean currents affect climate?
Warm currents bring warm air to areas and cool current bring cool air to an are
how do prevailing winds affect climate?
prevailing winds bring the moisture and temperature charecterisitcs of a region
How does vegetation affect climate?
vegetation like tress tend to moderate climate
What does deforestation cause?
hotter and drier climates due to less trees meaning less vegetation to moderate climate
What is a warm period
long term increase in global temperature resulting in melting of ice caps and glaciers also increase sea levels
what is an ice age?
long term decrease in global temperature causing glaciers to spread far south as long isalnd
What is El nino
A mass of warm surface water moving west to east across the equitorial pacific ocean
when does el nino occur?
ever 3 - 8 years
what doe el nino result in
worlid wide climate change including floods, droughts and heat waves
What is the normal situation world wide
low pressure over Asia
high pressure over south America causing winds to blow east to west (high to low) upwelling near south America