Weather and Climate Flashcards
True or False: The amount of water on the earth (in all forms) is about the same as it was millions of years ago.
True
What is the water cycle?
It shows how water moves from the ground to the atmosphere and back again.
True or False: Water is the only substance on earth that can be found naturally in all three of its states.
True
What percentage of all the world’s water is in the ocean?
95%
Evaporation
The sun (or heat from any source) causes water droplets to turn into a gaseous form, a vapor.
Why does water vapor travel up into the atmosphere?
Because it is less dense than liquid water or solid water.
What happens to the temperature when water is evaporated into the atmosphere?
It gets cooler.
What happens to the water vapor in our atmosphere when the temperature cools?
It turns into tiny, tiny water droplets, aka: CLOUDS.
What is condensation?
When gaseous water cools and turns into tiny water droplets.
True or False: Air currents can move tiny water droplets.
True.
The wind moves clouds, which are just made of tiny tiny water droplets.
What happens when clouds absorb more and more water droplets?
Eventually, some of them get released, and they are pulled down to the ground by gravity.
Precipitation
Water droplets falling from the atmosphere, returning to the ground and the ocean.
Why does some rain turn to snow?
Because the water droplets freeze and crystallize on the way down from clouds due to freezing temperatures.
True or False: There is more than one way for water to go through the water cycle.
True - not all water comes from the ocean.
How old can glaciers be?
Thousands of years old.
Most glaciers today are remnants from the ice age over 10,000 years ago.
How does water that is absorbed by plants return to the atmosphere?
It evaporates through tiny holes in the leaves called stomata.
Transpiration
The exhalation of tiny water droplets through the stomata
True or False: Drinking water is a limited resource.
True
True or False: Water eventually disappears and new water is created.
FALSE.
Water cannot be created or destroyed. The same amount of water always exists, it is just in various places within the water cycle.
How does gravity help the water cycle?
Gravity pulls water droplets from the sky back to the ground (precipitation), and causes water to travel downhill.
Precipitation would not exist without gravity.
What two processes does sunlight influence?
Transpiration and evaporation
What are the five main categories of weather (what “weather” is referring to)?
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Air Pressure
- Wind
- Precipitation
What is humidity?
How much water vapor is in the air.
True or False: The sun’s heat in the high atmosphere is what causes temperature changes and humidity in the air.
FALSE.
It is the lowest atmosphere.
True or False: Warm air is typically found near the equator.
True
How does the temperature of the air change as it gets closer to the poles?
It gets colder.
Do air masses that form over land have more or less humidity than those that form over an ocean?
LESS
True or False: Air masses can change characteristics as they move, changing temperature and humidity.
True
What is an air mass?
A large volume of air that is most uniform in humidity and temperature. This volume travels together because of the similarity in makeup.
What are the two types of pressure system?
High and low
How does a high pressure system work?
The center of the air mass has higher pressure than the areas around it, so the air moves out from the center.
What is the typical result of a high pressure system?
Clear skies
How does a low pressure system work?
The center of the air mass has lower pressure than the areas around it, so air is sucked into the center of the system.
What is the typical result of a low pressure system?
More intense weather like clouds and storms.
Is a Front associated with a low or high pressure system?
Low
What is a front?
A boundary that forms when air masses of different temperatures collide. It is the boundary between the two air masses.
True or False: There is more than one type of front, depending on how the different air masses collide.
True
What is a warm front?
When a warm air mass moves in to replace a cold air mass. The warm air rises above the cold air causing overcast skies, mild precipitation and warm temperatures.
True or False: Warm air is denser than cold air.
False
What is a cold front?
When a cold air mass moves in to replace a warm air mass. The dense, cold air pushes the warm air upwards, causing giant clouds to billow overhead, strong winds, thunderstorms, and cool temperatures.
What is weather?
The state of the atmosphere at a given time and place.
In general, how do air masses move between pressure systems?
They move from high pressure to low pressure
Why do clouds turn grey when it’s about to rain?
Clouds get thicker with more water vapor, so it becomes harder for light to pass all the way through.
What is a current?
The term we use to describe how fast air/water flows in relation to the air/water around it.
True or False: The sun heats up the earth unevenly.
True
Why are the poles colder than the equator even though they’re receiving the same amount of solar energy?
Because on the equator, the solar energy is hitting it more directly, concentrating the energy on a smaller area. When the sun’s rays hit the poles, it is indirectly due to the curve of the earth’s surface. This spreads out the heat and light over a larger surface area.
True or False: The uneven heating of earth from the sun affects the air pressure.
True
What happens to the air pressure in cooler temperatures?
The cold air (like around the poles) causes the air to sink lower, causing high air pressure.
What happens to the air pressure in warmer temperatures?
Warm air (like around the equators) rises higher, creating lower air pressure.
What is a low pressure cell?
An air pocket of low pressure air, typically found around or near the equator where the air pressure is naturally lower.
What is a high pressure cell?
An air pocket of high pressure, typically found in cold temperatures where the air pressure is naturally higher.
How is the warm air around the equator dispersed?
Warm air rises up into the higher atmospheres where it cools and then is dispersed to latitudes farther away from the equator.
What happens when the warm air of the equator is dispersed and cooled?
As it cools, it sinks to the ground, forming a high pressure cell around the 30 degree latitude.
True or False: The cold air of the poles follows the same pattern as the equator air, but in the reverse.
True - for the most part.
At what latitudinal degree does air that warms from the poles become dispersed as a low pressure cell?
90 degrees,
30 degrees away from the poles.
What are the high and low pressure bands around the earth?
The result of cooling and warming air pressure cells stemming from the poles and the equator.
Air pressure that settles into either a high or low pressure cell about every 30 degrees latitude
What creates air currents?
Air moving from high pressure areas to low pressure areas.
What is another word for air currents?
Wind
What are prevailing winds?
The global wind patterns
True or False: The prevailing winds travel in 90 degree angles between high and low pressure systems.
False
Why do the prevailing winds seem to curve to the right and left?
Because of the rotation of the earth’s axis.
What direction do winds curve in the Northern hemisphere?
To the right.
What direction do winds curve in the Southern hemisphere?
To the left.
What is the Coriolis affect?
The curving of the prevailing winds due to the rotation of the earth’s axis.
What are wind driven surface currents?
Ocean currents formed when prevailing winds travel across the surface of the water, pushing water in some direction.
What is one useful affect of wind driven surface currents?
They help to move ocean water.
Why are ocean currents curved?
Because of the Coriolis affect
What is a gyre circulation?
A giant system of circulating warm and cool water, caused by wind driven surface currents.
How far down into the ocean do the gyre systems reach?
About 1km down into the ocean
What is one affect of a gyre circulation?
They help move the water around the globe.
True or False: Water is good at holding onto heat it absorbs from the sun.
True
True or False: Water gyres move heat around the world as well as water.
True
What direction do warm waters typically travel?
Away from the equator
What direction do cold waters typically travel?
Away from the poles.
True or False: The ocean currents are only affected by the wind.
False
What two factors are deeper ocean currents affected by?
Temperature and density
What two things affect the density of water in the ocean?
Temperature and salinity
What is salinity?
A measure of how salty the ocean is
What causes water to be more dense?
Cooler temperature and greater salinity.
True or False: The dense water rises to the top.
FALSE
How do you decrease the density of the water?
Warm it up and remove the salt
True or False: Deep ocean currents move vertically
True
Why do deep ocean currents move vertically?
Because as the temperature and density changes, the water moves up and down (dense water sinking, less dense water rising)
True or False: Salt can join with water to make sea ice.
FALSE
Why are colder oceans saltier?
Because as ice flows form, salt gets left behind in the water. Salt cannot become ice. This leaves more salt in the water proportionally.
What is up welling?
When wind drags deep ocean water up towards the surface.
What is the overturning circulation?
The system of deep ocean currents and wind driven ocean currents flowing and moving water horizontally (on the surface) and vertically (in deep ocean), bringing water all over the world.
What is another term for the overturning circulation?
The global ocean conveyor belt
True or False: The overturning circulation carries heat energy all around the world.
True
Water retains heat really well, and oceans are heated by the sun
What is the main cause of the Coriolis affect?
Earth’s spin on its axis
How do ocean gyres redistribute heat around earth?
They bring warm water from the tropics to the poles.
What causes winds in the atmosphere?
The uneven heating of earth’s surface by the sun
What is a climate?
The long-term pattern of weather in a particular region.
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Climates are weather patterns.
What is another term for climate?
Average weather
What are some basic factors of a region’s climate?
Latitude, elevation, geographic features (oceans and mountains)
What are the latitudes of the North and South poles?
90 degrees N. and S.
What is the latitude of the equator?
0 degrees
How does latitude affect regional climates?
Higher latitudes get less direct sunlight (because of Earth’s curve) so they get less heat and light energy, resulting in lower average temperatures.
Latitudes closer to the equator get more direct sunlight, so they get more heat and light energy, resulting in higher average temperatures.
How does elevation affect regional climates?
As air rises to higher elevations, it expands and gets colder, resulting in lower average temperatures.
True or False: Water heats and cools quickly.
FALSE
True or False: Land heats and cools quickly.
True
True or False: Temperature variations tend to be much smaller for cities that are near water.
TRUE - because the water takes longer to heat or cool / release hot or cold energy.
What is the term for a climate influenced by large bodies of water?
Marine climate
What is the term for a regional climate influenced by the surrounding land mass?
Continental climate
What is a rain shadow?
When mountains are close to the ocean, the strip of land in between the mountains and the ocean is lush and fertile, while the land beyond the mountains is dry and dead.
In short: A place where little to no rain falls because of something blocking the clouds (from the ocean) like a mountain.
To clarify: The dry dead part is called the RAIN SHADOW.
What causes a rain shadow?
As the hot air from the ocean is pushed upwards towards the mountains, it expands and cools. As it cools, it forms precipitation that falls to earth, creating an area that gets a lot of rainfall.
As the air then travels down from the mountain, it becomes warmer (and travels quickly from the top because of its density). The warm air causes quick evaporation, leaving conditions dry and deserty
True or False: Predicting weather patterns due to regional climates is complicated.
True. Preach.
Define Latitude
How far north or south a place is from the equator
Define elevation
How high a place is above sea level
True or False: Large bodies of water help moderate air temperatures, creating generally mild conditions.
True
