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Science - Weather Flashcards

1
Q

What four main things influence the weather on Earth?

A

1) the 23.5* tilt of the Earth
2) the atmosphere
3) land forms
4) water (solid, liquid, gases)

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2
Q

What is weather?

A

the set of environmental conditions encountered from day to day.

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3
Q

What is climate?

A

the set of environmental conditions averaged over many years.

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4
Q

What is longitude?

A

the angle measured east or west from the 0* line, which passes through Greenwich, England.

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5
Q

What is latitude?

A

the angle measured north or south of the equator.

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6
Q

Where is the Arctic Circle?

A

the line 23.5* south of the North Pole

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7
Q

Where is the Antarctic Circle?

A

the line 23.5* north of the South Pole.

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8
Q

Where is the Tropic of Cancer?

A

the line 23.5* north of the Equator.

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9
Q

Where is the Tropic of Capricorn?

A

the line 23.5* south of the Equator.

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10
Q

Where are the Polar Zones?

A

the zone above the Arctic Circle and below the Antarctic Circle.

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11
Q

Where are the Temperate Zones?

A

the zone between the tropic zones and the circle lines.

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12
Q

Where are the Tropics or the Tropical Zones?

A

the zone between the tropic lines.

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13
Q

What are the four/five methods energy can be transferred from one place to another?

A 
radiation
electromagnetic spectrum
conduction
convection
advection
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14
Q

What is the average surface temperature on Earth?

A

15*C

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15
Q

What is radiation?

A

the transfer of energy by means of waves.

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16
Q

What is frequency?

A

waves/second

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17
Q

What is electromagnetic spectrum?

A

The set of waves that can travel through empty space at the speed of light.

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18
Q

What is the speed of light?

A

3.0 x 10^8 m/s

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19
Q

What is the speed of sound?

A

343 m/s (1/3 km/s)

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20
Q

What 3 types of radiation do we receive from the sun?

A

1) infrared (heat)
2) visible light (ROY G BIV)
3) ultraviolet
4) xray….?!?!?!

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21
Q

What is conduction?

A

the transfer of energy through the collision of particles.

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22
Q

What percentage of solar energy from the sun is absorbed by land and oceans?

A

50%

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23
Q

What percentage of solar energy from the sun is absorbed by clouds?

A

20%

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24
Q

What percentage of solar energy from the sun is reflected from clouds?

A

27%

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25
What percentage of solar energy from the sun is reflected from the surface?
3%
26
What is albedo?
the amount of reflected energy. Snow has a high albedo, while soil has a low albedo.
27
What is heat sink?
a material object that holds heat. The ocean is a good heat sink, while soil and rocks are not.
28
What is specific heat capacity?
the ability of a substance to absorb or release heat. Water has a high heat capacity, while soil and rock have a low heat capacity.
29
What is the Spring Equinox?
- March 21 - 12h of day and night - The sun is perpendicular (90*) to the equator.
30
What is the Summer Solstice?
- June 21 - longest daylight hours in the northern hemisphere. - the sun is 90* to the Tropic of Cancer - above the arctic circle has 24h of light
31
What is the Autumn Equinox?
- September 21 - 12h of day and night. - Sun is 90* to the equator
32
What is the Winter Solstice?
- December 21 - shortest daylight hours in the northern hemisphere - the sun is 90* to the Tropic if Capricorn - below the Antarctic circle has 24h of light.
33
Every location has a sun angle change of ____, every ________.
47*, half a year (182.6 days)
34
What is Specific Heat Capacity (SHC)?
the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1g of a substance, by 1*C.
35
How is SHC measured?
J/g/*C
36
What are isotherms?
lines on a weather map that show location with the same temperature.
37
What are isobars?
lines of a weather map that show locations with the same atmospheric pressure.
38
What is atmosphere?
the blanket of air and moisture that surrounds Earth. (total altitude of 500km)
39
What are the percent composition if the atmosphere?
1) 78% nitrogen 2) 21% oxygen 3) 1% other
40
What us altitude?
the height above sea level; elevation (m or km)
41
What are the 4 layers of the atmosphere?
troposphere stratosphere mesosphere thermosphere
42
What is the troposphere?
-0 to 10 km, 15 to -60*C, where weather occurs, O2
43
What is the stratosphere?
10-50km, -60 to -30*C, has ozone layer , (O3)
44
What is the mesosphere?
50-90 km, -30 to -90*C, meteors burn up
45
What is the thermosphere?
90-180 km, -90 to 200*C, aurora occurs, (O)
46
What is the ozone?
blocks and protects us from the ultraviolet radiation
47
What is temperature gradient?
The change of temperature over a distance.
48
What is the temperature gradient of the troposphere?
Gets colder (-6*) per 1000 m of altitude.
49
What is atmospheric pressure?
the pressure the air exerts as gravity pulls it toward the centre of the Earth.
50
The higher the altitude, the ____ the pressure.
lower
51
What is pressure gradient?
a measure of the amount the atmospheric pressure changes across a set distance.
52
Pressure gradients cause what?
wind
53
Pressure is measured in what?
kilopascals (kPa)
54
What is the average air pressure?
about 100 kPa (100 000 Pa)
55
Pressure is measured by what?
a barometer
56
What causes tornadoes?
cold air from the sky and warm air near the ground colliding. (clockwise)
57
What causes hurricanes?
warm, moist air that keeps spinning; a collection of spinning thunderstorms. (counter clockwise)
58
About how wide are tornadoes?
about 100m wide
59
About how wide are hurricanes?
100s of km's wide.
60
What is the wind speed of tornadoes?
200-400 km/h
61
What is the wind speed of hurricanes?
110 km/h
62
How big is lightning?
about 3-4 miles long and about 1inch in diameter.
63
What is wind?
The movement of air in the atmosphere?
64
What is prevailing winds?
winds that affect large areas
65
We live in the zone of the ________________ prevailing winds.
mid-latitude westerly
66
What is the Coriolis effect?
the apparent change of direction of a moving object in a rotating system.
67
What are jet streams?
high-speed winds in the upper regions of the troposphere, often around the mid-latitudes.
68
Where do convection currents occur?
In zones where hot air rises, circulates, cools, and then sinks.
69
How many convection currents in each hemisphere?
3
70
What are cumulus clouds?
puffy clouds that often have flat bases.
71
What are stratus clouds?
layers of clouds that appear consistent and endless.
72
What are cirrus clouds?
clouds that contain ice crystals. usually look like feathers or horse tails
73
What is nimbo/nimbus?
a name attached to a cloud type that may cause precipitation.
74
What is alto?
a prefix which means middle level.
75
What three things are necessary for cloud formation?
1) the air must have enough moisture 2) the air must have a condensation nuclei in the form of dust, smoke, pollen, or sea salt. this gives the water a particle to condense around. 3) the air must rise, cool, and condense into clouds
76
What is fog?
a cloud that forms near the ground. usually forms on clear nights.
77
What are weather systems?
A set of temperature, wind, pressure, and moisture conditions for a certain region that moves as a unit for a period of days.
78
What is air mass?
A large body of air in which the temperature and moisture content at a specific altitude are fairly uniform.
79
What is a front?
A boundary between air masses
80
What are the 4 types if fronts?
Warm Cold Occluded Stationary
81
Define thermal
A local convection current set up during the day.
82
Define sea breeze.
When a thermal forms near a sea, an ocean, or a lake.
83
What is land breeze?
A convection thermal that flows from the land towards the water.
84
What is humidity?
A measure of the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere.
85
What is absolute humidity?
the actual amount of water vapour actually in the air, expressed in units such as grams or water/kg of air
86
What is relative humidity?
The measure of the amount of water vapour actually in the air as a percentage of the maximum amount of water vapour the air could hold at that temperature.
87
What is the greenhouse effect?
The natural trapping of solar energy by the atmosphere.
88
What is global warming?
The unnatural increase in the temperature of the atmosphere.

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