env sci Chapter 13 Flashcards
Climate
Long term prevailing weather conditions at a particular place based upon records taken.
Latitude
Distance from the equator measured in degrees north or south.
El Niño
The short term periodic change in the location of warm and cold water masses in the pacific ocean, eastern pacific ocean surface water temperature becomes unusually warm.
La Nina
A periodic occurrence in the eastern pacific ocean in which the surface water temperature becomes unusually cold.
Ozone layer
An area in the stratosphere where ozone is highly concentrated.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CSF)
Hydrocarbons in which some or all of the hydrogen atoms are replaced by chlorine and fluorine used in coolants for refrigerators and air conditioners and cleaning solids. Their use is restricted because they destroy ozone molecules in the stratosphere.
Ozone Hole
A thinning of stratospheric ozone that occurs over the poles during the spring.
Polar Stratospheric Clouds
A cloud that forms at altitudes of about 21,000 meters during the arctic Antarctic winter or early spring when air temperatures drop below -80 degrees C.
Greenhouse Gasses
A gas composed of molecules that absorb and radiate infrared radiation from the sun.
Global Warming
A gradual increase in average temperature.
Kyoto Protocol
An international treaty according to which developed countries that sign the treaty agree to reduce their remissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that may contribute to global warnings by 2012
