Unit 5 - Week 1 Cards Flashcards
What gas makes up most of the atmosphere?
Nitrogen
What percentage of the atmosphere is made of nitrogen?
78%
What percentage of the atmosphere is made of oxygen?
21%
This created the atmosphere by releasing gases trapped within the earth to the surface.
Volcanic eruptions
This caused the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to decrease and the amount of oxygen to increase.
Photosynthetic life (plants, cyanobacteria)
This has led to increased levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
Burning fossil fuels
What are the five layers of the atmosphere?
Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere
This layer of the atmosphere is where nearly all weather conditions take place.
Troposphere
The layer of the earth’s atmosphere above the troposphere, Contains the ozone layer.
Stratosphere
The region of the earth’s atmosphere above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere. Where sprites occur.
Mesosphere
The region of the atmosphere above the mesosphere and below the exosphere. This is where the Aurora borealis and international space station reside.
Thermosphere
The outermost layer of the atmosphere. Where satellites orbit the earth.
Exosphere
What are the three “pauses” between the layers of the atmosphere?
Tropopause, stratopause, mesopause
The transfer of thermal energy by electromagnetic waves (light)
Radiation
The transfer of thermal energy between objects when their atoms or molecules collide.
Conduction
The transfer of thermal energy by the movement of heated material from one place to another.
Convection
The degree of compactness of a substance. Also the amount of mass of a substance in a given volume.
Density
Increases as the motion of particles speeds up, and decreases as the motion of particles slows down.
Temperature
What are the three units used to meausure temperature?
degrees Celsius, degrees Fahrenheit, Kelvin
The force exerted on a surface by the weight of the atmosphere above the surface.
Air pressure
The amount of water vapor in the atmosphere
Humidity
An increase in temperature with height in an atmospheric layer, which is the opposite of how temperature normally behaves
Temperature Inversion
the current short term variations in atmospheric phenomena
weather
the long term average of variations in weather for a particular area.
climate
person that studies long term atmospheric patterns
climatologist
person that analyzes and forecasts the weather in the short term
meteorologist
Air and water, constantly circulating around the Earth redistribute the thermal energy.
Thermal energy redistribution
Measures Temperature
Thermometer
measures humidity
Hygrometer
Measures air pressure
Barometer
Measures wind speed
Anemometer
The official name for a weather balloon. I
radiosonde
Weather systems used to detect specific locations of precipitation. Stands for- Radio Detection And Ranging
Radar
Three types of weather satellite imagery.
Infrared, visible, and water vapor
