The Atmosphere

Question 1

Levels of the atmosphere and their components

Answer 1

Troposphere- Lowest layer which makes up 75% of the total mass of the atmosphere. It contains 99% of the atmosphere water and nearly all weather happens in the troposphere. (It’s 10km up)

Stratosphere- Extends from the troposphere to 50km. Ozone is concentrated in the stratosphere.

Mesosphere- Above stratosphere and extends up to 90km. Temp starts to decrease here because of lower ozone concentration. No human could survive in this layer because it is dark with air pressure and it’s very low.

Thermosphere- Extends from the mesosphere to 600km. Temp begins to increase again due to absorption of UV and x-ray radiation as well as the impact of solar wind.

Exosphere- Outer most layer of earths atmosphere. It extends 10,000km above earths surface. Here, atoms and molecules escape into space.

Question 2

Weather vs climate. Which disasters are related to each?

Answer 2

Weather- Short term affects of changes in the atmosphere. Disasters associated with weather are tornadoes, snowstorms, storms, etc.

Climate- Changes of temperatures that range from tropical to arctic. Climate lasts for long periods of time. Disasters associated with climate are temperatures rising due to global warming, periodic atmospheric disasters such as monsoons or the decrease in snow in Ontario in the next ten years.

Question 3

Factors that affect climate- LOWERN

Answer 3

L- Latitude: Distance from equator is key when determining hot or cold areas.

O- Ocean currents: Temp of ocean current affects air that passes over it.

W- Wind patterns: Where ever wind comes from causes shift in climate ie. air mass originating over an ocean contains lots of moisture, cold air comes from north and warm from the gulf of mexico.

E- Elevation: Gets colder as you go higher. When air expands it cools and when air compresses is warms.

R- Relief: Mountain barriers create relief precipitation

N- Nearness to water: Far from water= continental climate which means not super hot or cold climate. Coastal location have maritime climate.

Question 4

Isotherm and Isobar

Answer 4

Isotherm has to do with temperature (make line barriers with similar temps 10-20 degrees 30-40 etc)

Isobar had to do with pressure (make circles by connecting the same masses together like connect the dots)

Question 5

What is a cold front and a warm front and how do they react with each other?

Answer 5

Cold front is cold air and warm front is warm air.

When they meet, fog or increasing rainfall, and thunderstorms may form.

Question 6

What is El- Nino? Why does it happen? Where? and the impact of it.

Answer 6

• El- Nino is a shift in climate and weather
• It happens every 3-7 years when tropical Pacific Ocean trade winds that normally blow westward from South America toward Asia die out and ocean temperatures become unusually warm and it last for about a year.

Question 7

Ingredients necessary for a tornado to form.

Answer 7

1. Cold air from north and warm air from gulf combine. 2. When the air masses meet they create an instability in the atmosphere causing a thunderstorm called a “super cell”.
2. The warm air rises and eventually twists into a spiral and forms a funnel cloud,

Question 8

Where do tornadoes occur in North America?

Answer 8

Tornado Alley. Which is an area that reaches central Texas all the way to the Canadian prairies.

Question 9

Scale and system we use to measure tornadoes

Answer 9

We use the fugita scale and an EF system to measure how big the tornadoes are (EF5 being the biggest)

Question 10

Technology used to predict when a tornado is going to hit.

Answer 10

Atmospheric sensors, weather balloons, Doppler radar, satellites and aircraft monitoring with complex computer models to predict when a storm will form, where it will strike and how severe it will be

Question 11

Where do hurricanes occur in North America?

Answer 11

Most common in the pacific.

Question 12

Scale and system we use to measure hurricanes

Answer 12

Saffier Simpson scale is the scale that measures hurricanes.

Question 13

Technology used to predict a hurricane is going to hit.

Answer 13

Satellites, aircraft, ships, buoys, radar, and other land-based platforms are important tools used in hurricane tracking and prediction.

Question 14

Hurricane Katrina. Who’s to blame?

Answer 14

• A year before, a team created a simulated hurricane called PAM and noticed that even at a CAT 3, New Orleans would be flooded.
• People who could leave didn’t.
• Who ever planned a city below sea level
• Bush for sending the whole military to Iraq

Question 15

Hurricane Katrina. What went wrong?

Answer 15

• The evacuation
• The levees failed
• Government mismanagement

Question 16

Ingredients necessary for a hurricane to form.

Answer 16

Hurricanes begin as a tropical storm over the warm moist waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans near Ethiopia and the equator. As moisture evaporates, it rises until enormous amounts of heated moist air is twisted high into the atmosphere.