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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
Q

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

A

3%

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26
Q

What is albedo?

A

the amount of reflected energy. Snow has a high albedo, while soil has a low albedo.

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27
Q

What is heat sink?

A

a material object that holds heat. The ocean is a good heat sink, while soil and rocks are not.

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28
Q

What is specific heat capacity?

A

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.

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29
Q

What is the Spring Equinox?

A
  • March 21
  • 12h of day and night
  • The sun is perpendicular (90*) to the equator.
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30
Q

What is the Summer Solstice?

A
  • 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
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31
Q

What is the Autumn Equinox?

A
  • September 21
  • 12h of day and night.
  • Sun is 90* to the equator
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32
Q

What is the Winter Solstice?

A
  • 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.
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33
Q

Every location has a sun angle change of ____, every ________.

A

47*, half a year (182.6 days)

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34
Q

What is Specific Heat Capacity (SHC)?

A

the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1g of a substance, by 1*C.

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35
Q

How is SHC measured?

A

J/g/*C

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36
Q

What are isotherms?

A

lines on a weather map that show location with the same temperature.

37
Q

What are isobars?

A

lines of a weather map that show locations with the same atmospheric pressure.

38
Q

What is atmosphere?

A

the blanket of air and moisture that surrounds Earth. (total altitude of 500km)

39
Q

What are the percent composition if the atmosphere?

A

1) 78% nitrogen
2) 21% oxygen
3) 1% other

40
Q

What us altitude?

A

the height above sea level; elevation (m or km)

41
Q

What are the 4 layers of the atmosphere?

A

troposphere
stratosphere
mesosphere
thermosphere

42
Q

What is the troposphere?

A

-0 to 10 km, 15 to -60*C, where weather occurs, O2

43
Q

What is the stratosphere?

A

10-50km, -60 to -30*C, has ozone layer , (O3)

44
Q

What is the mesosphere?

A

50-90 km, -30 to -90*C, meteors burn up

45
Q

What is the thermosphere?

A

90-180 km, -90 to 200*C, aurora occurs, (O)

46
Q

What is the ozone?

A

blocks and protects us from the ultraviolet radiation

47
Q

What is temperature gradient?

A

The change of temperature over a distance.

48
Q

What is the temperature gradient of the troposphere?

A

Gets colder (-6*) per 1000 m of altitude.

49
Q

What is atmospheric pressure?

A

the pressure the air exerts as gravity pulls it toward the centre of the Earth.

50
Q

The higher the altitude, the ____ the pressure.

A

lower

51
Q

What is pressure gradient?

A

a measure of the amount the atmospheric pressure changes across a set distance.

52
Q

Pressure gradients cause what?

A

wind

53
Q

Pressure is measured in what?

A

kilopascals (kPa)

54
Q

What is the average air pressure?

A

about 100 kPa (100 000 Pa)

55
Q

Pressure is measured by what?

A

a barometer

56
Q

What causes tornadoes?

A

cold air from the sky and warm air near the ground colliding. (clockwise)

57
Q

What causes hurricanes?

A

warm, moist air that keeps spinning; a collection of spinning thunderstorms. (counter clockwise)

58
Q

About how wide are tornadoes?

A

about 100m wide

59
Q

About how wide are hurricanes?

A

100s of km’s wide.

60
Q

What is the wind speed of tornadoes?

A

200-400 km/h

61
Q

What is the wind speed of hurricanes?

A

110 km/h

62
Q

How big is lightning?

A

about 3-4 miles long and about 1inch in diameter.

63
Q

What is wind?

A

The movement of air in the atmosphere?

64
Q

What is prevailing winds?

A

winds that affect large areas

65
Q

We live in the zone of the ________________ prevailing winds.

A

mid-latitude westerly

66
Q

What is the Coriolis effect?

A

the apparent change of direction of a moving object in a rotating system.

67
Q

What are jet streams?

A

high-speed winds in the upper regions of the troposphere, often around the mid-latitudes.

68
Q

Where do convection currents occur?

A

In zones where hot air rises, circulates, cools, and then sinks.

69
Q

How many convection currents in each hemisphere?

A

3

70
Q

What are cumulus clouds?

A

puffy clouds that often have flat bases.

71
Q

What are stratus clouds?

A

layers of clouds that appear consistent and endless.

72
Q

What are cirrus clouds?

A

clouds that contain ice crystals. usually look like feathers or horse tails

73
Q

What is nimbo/nimbus?

A

a name attached to a cloud type that may cause precipitation.

74
Q

What is alto?

A

a prefix which means middle level.

75
Q

What three things are necessary for cloud formation?

A

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
Q

What is fog?

A

a cloud that forms near the ground. usually forms on clear nights.

77
Q

What are weather systems?

A

A set of temperature, wind, pressure, and moisture conditions for a certain region that moves as a unit for a period of days.

78
Q

What is air mass?

A

A large body of air in which the temperature and moisture content at a specific altitude are fairly uniform.

79
Q

What is a front?

A

A boundary between air masses

80
Q

What are the 4 types if fronts?

A

Warm
Cold
Occluded
Stationary

81
Q

Define thermal

A

A local convection current set up during the day.

82
Q

Define sea breeze.

A

When a thermal forms near a sea, an ocean, or a lake.

83
Q

What is land breeze?

A

A convection thermal that flows from the land towards the water.

84
Q

What is humidity?

A

A measure of the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere.

85
Q

What is absolute humidity?

A

the actual amount of water vapour actually in the air, expressed in units such as grams or water/kg of air

86
Q

What is relative humidity?

A

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
Q

What is the greenhouse effect?

A

The natural trapping of solar energy by the atmosphere.

88
Q

What is global warming?

A

The unnatural increase in the temperature of the atmosphere.

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