Weather and Climate

Question 0

The study if the earths atmosphere is called…

Answer 0

Meteorology

Question 1

What is atmosphere?

Answer 1

The envelope of gases surrounding the earth

Question 2

Someone who studies the earth…

Answer 2

Meteorologist

Question 3

What are the layers of the earth’s atmosphere in order from the furthest to the closest.

Answer 3

Thermosphere Mesosphere Stratosphere Troposphere (where our weather takes place)

Question 4

Heat comes from the sun. What happens to it in our atmosphere?

Answer 4

The heat from the sun is trapped, this heat creates our weather.

Question 5

What type of climate zone are we located in and what does it mean?

Answer 5

Temperate, no extremes of temperature or rainfall NI has less sunshine and more rain than other parts of UK

Question 6

What are Airmasses?

Answer 6

Winds which blow towards NI from different direction all the time bringing different weather They are defined by temperature and water content

Question 7

Label a diagram of British Isles with 5 different Airmasses

Answer 7

See notes

Question 8

What are the 7 elements of the weather?

Answer 8

Temperature Precipitation, eg rainfall Wind speed and direction Cloud cover and visibility Air pressure Humidity (amount of water vapour in the air) Sunshine

Question 9

Temperature Definition and how is it measured?

Answer 9

Measure of how hot/cold something is. Thermometer, most common scale oC Celsius NB sun heats earth and this heats the air

Question 10

Precipitation Definition and how is it measured?

Answer 10

Water in the air that falls on the ground e.g. rain, snow, sleet, hail, ice, fog Measured in mm using a rain gauge

Question 11

Wind speed Definition and how is it measured?

Answer 11

Moving air Measure speed (strength) using a anemometer (spinning cups)in km/hr or knots Direction using a weather vane expressed as points of a compass from the direction it is coming from eg southerly wind comes from south travels north.

Question 12

Air pressure Definition and how is it measured?

Answer 12

Pressure of air around us Barometer, units millibars (mb)

Question 13

Cloud cover Definition and how is it measured?

Answer 13

Amount of sky covered by cloud It is measured in eighths, units oktas

Question 14

What are the three main types of clouds?

Answer 14

High level Medium level Low level

Question 15

Features of high level clouds

Answer 15

Name: Cirrus Thin, white, whispy Made of ice crystals Associated with Fair weather

Question 16

Features of medium level clouds

Answer 16

White fluffy balls or heaps with dark flat bases Name: Cumulus If rain, name: Cumulonimbus

Question 17

Features of Low Level Clouds

Answer 17

Name: Stratus (Latin for layer or blanket) Featureless, covering entire sky, grey

Question 18

The British Isles can be split into 4 distinct seasonal areas, illustrate this using a diagram.

Answer 18

Question 19

evaporation

Answer 19

heat from the sun turns water in the sea into water vapour

Question 20

condensation

Answer 20

as warm moist air rises it cools and turns back into water droplets and form clouds

Question 21

precipitation

Answer 21

water droplets from the clouds fall as rain or snow on the land

Question 22

surface water

Answer 22

water moves across surface of the land e.g in rivers back to the sea

Question 23

ground water

Answer 23

water seeps below and moves back to the sea

Question 24

transpiration

Answer 24

extra water from plants is returned to the atmosphere

Question 25

complete water cycle

Answer 25

Question 26

5 different Airmasses hit British Isles

Answer 26

Tropical continental (warm and dry air) comes at bottom west, Tropical Maritime (warm and moist) is directed more at Wales.