Quiz 2 Flashcards
What is specific heat? How is it important to heating and cooling of continents and oceans
Specific heat is the amount of energy needed to increase a kilogram mass of a substance by 1 degree C. Because the specific heat of water is higher than that of land it takes more energy to heat the oceans than it does the land. This means that the oceans help contribute to balancing out the high heat of the land to help balance the temperatures around the world
What is an isotherm on a map portraying temperatures
An isotherm is a line that connects areas of the same temperatures.
Discuss how mean daily temperatures varies with increasing elevation.
As the elevation increases the temperature will decrease because there is less air pressure than at lower altitudes.
Why do temperatures vary little through the year in ushiana Argentina despite its high latitude
The water that surrounds the city helps to keep the temperatures moderate because water has a higher specific heat than land.
Discuss how high surface temperatures create low atmospheric pressure at the surface
High surface temperatures means that the air molecules are moving faster. This increases the volume of the gases and decreases the pressure.
What does an aneroid barometer measure? How does it work?
An Aneroid barometer measures air pressure. It works by having a evacuated chamber with a spring in it. The air pressure presses down on that spring and then through a series of pivot points an arrow points to the amount of pressure in the atmosphere.
What is the cause of dynamically induced surface high pressure
Dynamically induced surface high pressure is created by air in the upper troposphere compressing together and being forced downward.
Explain why a land breeze frequently develops along the coast at night
At night the temperature of the land has increased over the day creating high pressure and the pressure over the water is lower than that of the land. and because air moves from high to low pressure there is a land breeze over the ocean at night
Briefly Why is a Chinook wind warm
The Chinook wind is warm because as air descends from the side of the mountain it is compressed and dried out from the release of the latent heat on the other side, and as it spreads out the warm air blows across the adjacent lowland.
What causes the Santa Ana winds in California
The high pressure over the Mojave desert causes the Santa Ana winds
Why are polar highs more intense over land in winter than over the oceans
The cold dense air ove rth epoles produces high pressure and because the area already has a large energy deficit, and the continents loose energy faster than the oceans there is more high pressure over the land than there is the water
why are subtropical high pressure areas more intens over the oceans than over the continents
because the oceans are normally cooler than the continent the air warms up less over the water than the continent which means the pressure over land is lower than the pressure over land
How does air move at the surface in to low pressure system sin the northern hemisphere and middle latitudes? What happens to the air at the surface as it reaches the low pressure center
because the earth rotates air enters the low pressure areas in a counter clockwise pattern called a cyclone a the surface as it reaches the low pressure center the winds are very strong.
What iniciates or causes a hadley cell of air circulationin the Tropices
The high rising heat at the equator, and the low pressure created by this cause the hadley cells to develop.
Contrast the westerlies with the trade winds in two ways
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