Exam 3

Question 1

______ provides the energy that drives Earth’s weather.

Answer 1

The radiant energy of the Sun.

Question 2

What kind of system is Earth’s climate and why?

Answer 2

It is an open system because the Sun’s energy comes from outside the system.

Question 3

Where does the argon in Earth’s atmosphere come from?

Answer 3

The radioactive decay of unstable isotopes in Earth’s crust.

Question 4

Where does carbon dioxide in the atmosphere come from?

Answer 4

From animals respiration and from the burning of fossil fuel.

Question 5

Where does atmospheric oxygen come from?

Answer 5

cyanobacteria and plant photosynthesis.

Question 6

Overall, which of the following atmospheric gases is the MOST abundant gas in the Earth’s atmosphere?

Answer 6

Nitrogen

Question 7

Overall, which of the following atmospheric gases is the LEAST abundant gas in Earth’s atmosphere?

Answer 7

Carbon Dioxide

Question 8

Anthropomorphic (man-made) activities are measurably adding more of this greenhouse gas to Earth’s atmosphere over time and as this happens it traps more heat in Earth’s atmosphere, causing the phenomena of global warming.

Answer 8

Carbon Dioxide

Question 9

The ozone of the famous ozone layer that blocks much of the Sun’s harmful ultra-violet radiant energy from reaching the surface of the Earth is a tri-atomic molecular form of ______.

Answer 9

Oxygen

Question 10

Where is the ozone layer located?

Answer 10

IN the Earth’s stratosphere (the lower stratosphere)

Question 11

Most of the mass of Earth’s atmosphere and most of its weather happens in the layer of the atmosphere called the _________.

Answer 11

The Troposphere

Question 12

The _______ is in the upper atmosphere and consists of charged atoms of atmospheric gases formed by the Sun’s radiant energy. It is where the aurora happens and it reflects certain frequencies of radio wave, such as shortwave and the AM radio band, back to the ground to enable radio broadcasts using those frequencies to be received over the horizon from the broadcasting station.

Answer 12

The Ionosphere

Question 12

The part of the Earth that rotates the fastest is _______?

Answer 12

The Equator

Question 13

Most storms move from west to east across Kansas because we are in the ____________.

Answer 13

The Prevailing Westerlies

Question 14

Which of the following is the most accurate description of a monsoonal climate?

Answer 14

A warm, humid climate in the summer and a cool, dry climate in the winter

Question 15

Air masses moving north or south from the Earth’s Equator are deflected to the _________; air masses moving toward the Earth’s Equator from the north or south are deflected to the __________

Answer 15

Defected to the east; deflected to the west

Question 16

What has to rotate the fastest to complete a revolution in 24 hours?

Answer 16

The Earth’s Equator

Question 17

the influence of the Earth’s rotation on movements across its surface

Answer 17

The Coriolis (Momentum) Effect

Question 18

Anticyclones are ______ pressure areas, while cyclones are _______ pressure areas.

Answer 18

high pressure areas; low pressure areas

Question 19

An anticyclone is Earth’s northern hemisphere rotates ________; a cyclone in Earth’s northern hemisphere rotates ___________.

Answer 19

clockwise; counterclockwise

Question 20

Anticyclones in the southern hemisphere rotate _______ while cyclones in the southern hemisphere rotate ________.

Answer 20

counterclockwise; clockwise

Question 21

A parcel of air that will always rise of its own accord because it is always warmer and less dense than the surrounding air is called ____________.

Answer 21

Unstable air

Question 22

Daily temperatures are reported in the ___________ for most countries of the world.

Answer 22

Celsius Scale

Question 23

What temperature scale is Celsius?

Answer 23

Metric System

Question 24

The Dew Point is a(n)

Answer 24

temperature

Question 25

when the atmosphere cools with increasing height, the dew point is a temperature that occurs at ____________.

Answer 25

altitude

Question 26

Kansas gets most of its moisture from ________.

Answer 26

The Gulf of Mexico

Question 27

The rising air is colder and more dense than the air around it only at low altitudes. At higher altitudes, it first reaches the same temperature then eventually becomes warmer and less dense that the surrounding air.

Answer 27

conditionally unstable air

Question 28

The rising air is always cooler (and denser) than the surrounding air, regardless of altitude.

Answer 28

Stable air

Question 29

An immature, developing thunderstorm cloud is called a(n) ____________

Answer 29

Cumulus cloud

Question 30

A mature thunderstorm cloud is called a(n) _________.

Answer 30

cumulonimbus cloud

Question 31

a narrow band of precipitation associated with a cold front of a mid-latitude cyclones called a __________.

Answer 31

squall line

Question 32

the bend in the polar jet stream bringing us in Kansas our cold weather this week is called a _______________.

Answer 32

Rossby Wave

Question 33

What place on Earth has the greatest thunderstorm frequency?

Answer 33

The Intertropical Convergence Zone

Question 34

The dissipating stage is sometimes called ________ because it rains out from the bottom up.

Answer 34

orphan anvil

Question 35

Where are the highest winds in a tropical cyclone found?

Answer 35

In the eyewall of the tropical cyclone

Question 36

Where would you NOT expect a tropical cyclone to form?

Answer 36

Along the Equator

Question 37

During the course of the 20th century, the number of deaths caused by hurricanes _______________.

Answer 37

decreased

Question 38

The property damage caused by hurricanes ___________________.

Answer 38

increased

Question 39

The Hurricanes of 1780 may have aided a revolution in what became the independent country called ________.

Answer 39

The United States

Question 40

The Samoan Cyclone of 1889 may have prevented a war between the United States and ____________.

Answer 40

Germany

Question 41

A tornado outbreak means ________ from the same storm system in 24 hours.

Answer 41

6 to 99

Question 42

________ tornadoes from the same storm system in 24 hours are called a tornado super outbreak

Answer 42

100 or more

Question 43

When was the last time that Manhattan, KS and Topeka, KS, were struck by tornadoes on the same day?

Answer 43

1966

Question 44

Manhattan, KS was most recently struck by a tornado in _______.

Answer 44

2022

Question 45

According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, what is the safest place to use as a shelter from a tornado?

Answer 45

Specially designed safe rooms or tornado shelters that meet safety criteria.

Question 46

How are windstorms in the United Kingdom currently named?

Answer 46

By common first names of people

Question 47

Hailstorms tend to form in the _______ of a supercell thunderstorm

Answer 47

in the middle of a supercell thunderstorm

Question 48

This late-season hurricane merged with a westward-moving low-pressure system to be a snow event after doing considerable damage as a hurricane:

Answer 48

Hurricane Sandy

Question 49

Your instructor said that the first time that the hurricane evacuation plan for New York City was implemented in a real-life situation was for _______.

Answer 49

Hurricane Irene