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Natural Disasters > Study Guide Questions (All Subjects) > Flashcards

Study Guide Questions (All Subjects) Flashcards

1
Q
  1. The steps in the hydrologic cycle
A
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2
Q
  1. How evaporation and condensation relate to saturation and the formation of clouds
A

Evaporation and condensation determine saturation (i.e. how much moisture is in the air)
We need air to rise to reach saturation. Clouds form when air rises, cools, and water condenses. Water vapor needs something to condense onto (microscopic particles). Clouds are composed of tiny liquid water droplets

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3
Q
  1. How changing temperature or water vapor changes RH
A

Higher temperatures and more water vapor in the air increase RH

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4
Q
  1. What dew point is and how it represents the amount of water vapor in the air
A

Dew point is the temperature at which saturation occurs. Dew point indicates the amount of water vapor vs RH which indicates how close to saturation. Higher dew point = more water vapor in the air

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5
Q
  1. Understand the 5 major “cloud terms” that make up the 10 main cloud types and the information they provide about where the cloud is, what the cloud looks
A

cirro = high, wispy
alto = mid level
cumulus = low base, grows tall
nimbo = indicates rain cloud
strato = low, sheet-like

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6
Q
  1. How winds blow around low-pressure and high-pressure systems (and what we call these systems), which are associated with rising/sinking air, and which are associated with good/bad weather.
A

Low-pressure system: Cyclones, Rising Air, Bad weather. Wind blows counter-clockwise and in

High-pressure system: Anticyclone, Sinking Air, Good weather. Wind blows clockwise and out

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7
Q
  1. What wind shear is
A

changes in wind speed and/or direction with height

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8
Q
  1. How are air masses classified? What are the 5 main air masses in North America, where
    (generally) do they originate, and what kind of conditions do they bring?
A

Air masses are classified according to the moisture content and temperature of the surface underlying where they form

A = Arctic air mass found over the North Pole
P = Polar air masses found at high latitudes
T = Tropical air masses found near the equator
m = maritime air masses develop above oceans (wetter)
c = continental air masses form over continents (drier)
cT meaning of “Summer only in US” slide 29
only in summer

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9
Q

What are the 5 main air masses?

A

cA: Continental Arctic; forms over permanent snow or ice in the Arctic; extremely cold and dry

cP: Continental Polar; forms over northern North America, Europe, and Asia… Dry and cold

cT: Continental Tropical; forms over continental interiors; brings hot and dry summers as it moves east of north

mP: Maritime Polar; cool, moist air; forms over N. Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern oceans. Rain to west coast, snow to inland mountains

mT: Maritime Tropical; hot and humid summers; forms over tropical Atlanta, Pacific Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico then moves inland, affecting the SE states the most

*Thunderstorms and tornadoes: associated with weather patterns that form when mT meets cP

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10
Q
  1. The differences between the 3 NWS alerts (Atmosphere)
A

Advisory: potentially hazardous conditions

Watch: atmospheric conditions favoring hazardous weather over a region in time; actual location and time not known (e.g. ingredients are there)

Warning: imminent or occurring hazardous weather over a region in time

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11
Q
  1. What an omega block and ridge are, and how this leads to heat waves
A

Stationary anticyclone creates a broad ridge that pushes warmer air further north than usual; poleward extension of contour lines indicates warmer than normal. The ridge forms an omega block which prevents cooler air from penetrating the ridge and re-routing the cooler air around the ridge.

Stationary high pressure warm air leads to heat waves; increased solar radiation reaches the ground continuing to warm the surface and build pressure.

Extreme heat events in tropical or monsoon climates are caused by hot winds flowing in from nearby deserts related to sinking air and semi-permanent high-pressure systems near 30° north and south
Less moisture 🡪 clear skies 🡪 increasing solar radiation 🡪extreme heat

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12
Q
  1. What heat index and wet bulb temperature are, including threshold of survivability
A

Heat index: combines temperature and RH to think about risk to the human body

Wet bulb temp: the coolest you can make the air by evaporating water into it

Survivability threshold: wet bulb temperature greater than or equal to 35 degrees C; upper limit of safety beyond which the human body can no longer cool itself by evaporating sweat from the surface of the body to maintain a stable body core temp

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13
Q
  1. The 5 types of drought and the main causes of drought
A

Meteorological: prologues period of dry weather patterns
Hydrological: low water supply in lakes, reservoirs, rivers
Agricultural: damage to crops due to water shortage
Ecological: ecological damage from low soil moisture
Socioeconomic: demand for things like water, food grains, and fish increases due to a water shortage causes a deficit in supply

Drought causes
Less rainfall than normal due to high pressure systems
Warmer temps: increased evap leads to decrease in soil moisture
Surface and subsurface water removed

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14
Q
  1. What’s in the fire triangle, types of wildfires, and fuels of wildfires
A

Fire triangle: oxygen combines with carbon, organic plant material, and hydrogen

Types of fires
Ground fires: burn organic matter in the soil beneath surface litter and are sustained by glowing combustion
Surface fires: spread with a flaming front and burn leaf litter, fallen branches and other fuels located at ground level
Crown fires: burn through the top layer of foliage on a tree (canopy); most intense; requires to strong winds, steep slopes, and a heavy fuel load

Fire fuels
grasses: ignite easily; small-scale; strong winds escalate
shrubs (2-12 ft); loose layers allow for easy burning; plants with high content of natural oils are highly flammable
forests: if there isn’t much organic litter on the ground, the fire passes through with minimal damage to the tree; if there is a lot of organic litter on the ground, the fire burns hot and slow killing trees; shrubs act as ladders for crown fires

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15
Q
  1. The primary and secondary causes of wildfires in the U.S.
A

Primary: arson
Secondary: lightning

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16
Q
  1. The 4 factors that influence the spreading of wildfires
A

Different heights of trees: ladder fuels = fires can climb grasses to shrubs to trees

Santa Ana winds: strong wind burns a supply of fresh oxygen; spreading burning embers (firebrands) to start new blazes

Topography: fires burn faster up a slope

Invasive species: some non-native vegetation needs more water than available on average; invasive organisms can kill/damage trees

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17
Q
  1. How to mitigate fire threats to forests and property
A

Stop the fire triangle: add water, chemical retardants, and vegetation

Prescribing small fires to reduce wildfire intensity and decrease the likelihood of crown fires

Creating fire breaks

Create defensible space around homes:
Immediate: 0-5 ft
Intermediate: 5-30 ft
Extended: 30-100 ft

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18
Q
  1. How to get lows to strengthen
A
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19
Q
  1. The 4 types of fronts and what each looks like on a weather map. What are the features you see in a side view of a warm front and cold front (especially precipitation occurrence/types and temperature)? What is a dry line?
A
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20
Q

The 6 steps of polar front theory. In what stage of polar front theory is a mid-latitude low
strongest? Why?

A
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21
Q
  1. The difference between cyclogenesis and a bomb
A
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22
Q
  1. The different precipitation types (liquid, frozen, mixed) and how each forms
A
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23
Q
  1. The criteria for a storm to be a blizzard
A
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24
Q
  1. The differences between nor’easters, post-tropical cyclones, and subtropical cyclones
A
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25
Q
  1. What wind chill is
A
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26
Q
  1. How a wavy jet stream can cause cold outbreaks (polar vortex)
A
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27
Q
  1. What are the requirements for a thunderstorm to be considered severe?
A
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28
Q
  1. What features are found in a supercell thunderstorm (guest front, wall cloud, shelf cloud, roll cloud, mammatus cloud)? How does wind shear create the rotating updraft?
A
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29
Q
  1. Why and when thunderstorms develop along the dryline
A
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30
Q
  1. How hail forms and grows
A
31
Q
  1. What causes thunder? How can you use lightning/thunder to calculate how far away a
    thunderstorm is?
A
32
Q
  1. The difference between a tornado and a funnel cloud
A
33
Q
  1. How does a tornado form and what are the 4 stages of its life cycle?
A
34
Q
  1. When/where do tornadoes usually form in the U.S.?
A
35
Q
  1. Know the differences between a tornado outbreak and tornado families
A
36
Q
  1. What is the scale for classifying tornadoes? What is it based on and how many categories does it
    have?
A
37
Q
  1. Know the differences between a tornado watch and warning
A
38
Q
  1. How should you deal with an approaching tornado threat?
A
39
Q
  1. What are the two ways radar shows the presence of a tornado?
A
40
Q
  1. What is a stream, and what controls the amount of water in a stream?
A
41
Q
  1. What is the typical residence time for water in streams?
A
42
Q
  1. What is a watershed?
A
43
Q
  1. The 3 factors affecting stream flow and how they work together overall
A
44
Q
  1. The definitions of a flood, floodplain, floodway, flood fringe, and base flood
A
45
Q
  1. The differences between regional and flash floods (causes, duration, impact)
A
46
Q
  1. Natural and human-caused factors that lead to floods
A
47
Q

What it means to say something is a __-year flood in terms of probability of occurrence

A
48
Q
  1. The main saying for flood road safety
A
49
Q
  1. The ways to control floods and whether they are a type of prevention or adaptation (adjustment)
A
50
Q

What happens in the eye vs. eyewall of the hurricane (anatomy of a hurricane)? How does eye size generally correlate with storm strength?

A
51
Q
  1. Where do hurricanes form? How do they normally travel?
A
52
Q
  1. Know the sources of energy for a hurricane to form/strengthen and causes of it weakening
A
53
Q
  1. Understand the structure and circulation of a hurricane (side view and top view)
A
54
Q
  1. What are the stages of a developing hurricane? How/when are hurricanes numbered and named?
A
55
Q
  1. What is the scale for hurricanes? What is it based on? At what category are they considered
    “major”?
A
56
Q
  1. What is the scale for hurricanes? What is it based on? At what category are they considered
    “major”?
A
57
Q
  1. What is the scale for hurricanes? What is it based on? At what category are they considered
    “major”?
A
58
Q
  1. What % of the atmosphere do nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor make up? What is the current concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere?
A
59
Q
  1. How the greenhouse effect works and why it exists (what gases matter, as well as the
    relationships between temperature and wavelength, and how selective absorbers behave)
A
60
Q
  1. What change in temperature have we seen over the past 150 years?
A
61
Q
  1. What are the 2 ways that human activity can lead to earthquakes?
A
62
Q
  1. How do volcanic eruptions impact global climate in the short- and long-term?
A
63
Q
  1. How do changes in warming (short-term events and trends) and precipitation effect mass movements?
A
64
Q
  1. What components of heat waves have changed already?
A
65
Q
  1. What are the primary and secondary climate drivers making drought worse?
A
66
Q
  1. What factors lead to increased wildfire spread? How does this impact the numbers of large fires and area burned in the U.S.?
A
67
Q
  1. How are record cold events expected to change in the future?
A
68
Q
  1. What are the two main changes that are expected for blizzards?
A
69
Q
  1. What are the drivers of increased flood events and where (generally) is precipitation expected to increase most?
A
70
Q
  1. What is the main change expected for thunderstorms?
A
71
Q
  1. What is the main change in tornado patterns?
A
72
Q
  1. How are tropical cyclones impacted by climate change (intensification, count, category, winds, location, precipitation)?
A
73
Q
  1. Of the atmospheric disasters, which have the greatest confidence that human-caused climate change is making them worse?
A
74
Q
  1. Understand how disasters interact with climate change to create compound events
A

Natural Disasters (6 decks)

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