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Geography Yr 8 > Weather And Climate > Flashcards

Weather And Climate Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a meteorologist?

A

A meteorologist is someone who studies and predicts weather

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2
Q

Weather

A

Day to day changes in the atmosphere at a given time and place-variables measured are precipitation, wind speed/direction, cloud cover and air pressure.

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3
Q

Climate

A

Long-term weather patterns of any area (total of average weather conditions recorded over 30yrs) - variables measured are temperature, precipitation and wind.

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4
Q

Temperature

A

How hot or cold something is
Degrees Celsius (C°)
Thermometer

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5
Q

Precipitation

A

Water falling from the sky in any form e.g. rain, snow
Mm
Rain gauge

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6
Q

Humidity

A

The amount of water vapour held in the air
%
Hygrometer

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7
Q

Wind speed

A

How fast the wind is blowing
Kilometres per hour (kph)
Anemometer (Beaufort scale)

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8
Q

Wind direction

A 
Where the wind is blowing from
Compass points:
North
East
South
West
Wind vane/weather vane
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9
Q

Air pressure

A

How heavy the air is around us
millibars mb
Barometer

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10
Q

Cloud type

A

These can tell us something about the weather higher in the atmosphere
N/A
N/A

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11
Q

Cloud cover

A

How much of the sky is covered with clouds
Okta
Okta index cover

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12
Q

How does it rain?

A

The sun warms in the water in the oceans, rivers and lakes.
Some water evaporates to form an invisible gas called water vapour. It goes into the air. When air rises, it cools. So water vapour condenses to give clouds of water droplets. Droplets join to form bigger drops. When they grow heavy enough they fall as rain (precipitation).

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13
Q

What are the differences between a cumulus and stratus cloud?

A

A stratus is more spread out and are darker, cumulus clouds are darker and fluffier. Stratus clouds produce drizzly rain and they are formed when air rises slowly. Cumulus clouds are generally low clouds and stratus clouds are generally middle clouds.

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14
Q

Atmospheric pressure

A

Atmospheric pressure is the force pushing down on us due to the weight of the atmosphere.

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15
Q

What are isobars?

A

Isobars are lines joining areas of equal pressure

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16
Q

When is there low pressure?

A

Warm air rises leading rises leading to a low surface pressure. Rising air cools down and condensation occurs. This makes clouds and rain.

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17
Q

When is there high pressure?

A

Cold air falls leading to a high surface pressure. Falling air warms up and any moisture becomes absorbed. This leads to clear skies.

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18
Q

High pressure weather

A

When warm air rises in one place, cold air sinks somewhere else, giving a high pressure.

  1. Warm air is rising at x
  2. Cold air gets pushed aside
  3. As the cold air sinks it warms up so no water vapour condenses. No clouds form over y. The sky stays clear.
  4. And far away, at y, it sinks. So the air pressure rises, giving high pressure at y.
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19
Q

Sunlight

A

Sunlight is the amount of daylight
The duration and the intensity of sunlight is measured using a Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder. These focus light from the sun onto a piece of card where it leaves a burnt trace. The more sunshine there is, the longer the line. It is measured in sunlight hours.

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20
Q

What is high pressure a sign of?

A

High pressure is a sign of fine weather. The higher the pressure the calmer the weather will be. High pressure brings clear skies, which means very hot weather in Summer and very cold weather in Winter. A large scale area of high pressure is called an anticyclone.

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21
Q

Low pressure weather

A

Warm air is rising around a so the pressure falls at A
The air pressure at B is now higher than at A so air rushes from B to A as wind
As the rising air cools, clouds form. Then it rains.

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22
Q

What is low pressure a sign of?

A

Low pressure is a sign of unsettled weather. The lower the pressure the stormer the weather will be. Low pressure brings cloudy skies, which means very we and windy weather. A large scale area of low pressure is called a depression.

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23
Q

High pressure in summer

A
  • hot temperatures during the daytime
  • cooler evening because there are no clouds
  • drought may occur in some places
  • water vapour condenses on the grass to form dew
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24
Q

High pressure in Winter

A
  • very low temperatures calm or low winds
  • lack of precipitation
  • frosty conditions
  • fog
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25
Q

Extreme weather in the UK

A

An unusual event that is unpredictable and can cause widespread damage

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26
Q

What brings heat to the UK’s banks?

A

The North Atlantic Drift

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27
Q

What is a climate graph?

A

Climate graphs are used to describe the annual pattern of rainfall and temperatures for one location or to compare the pattern between two or more locations.

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28
Q

World climate zones

A

The world has many different climatic regions ranging from polar in the heighest latitudes to tropical which is located near to the equator.

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29
Q

Arctic/polar

A

In the winter it is freezing cold with little rainfall
In the summer there are slightly warmer temperatures and small amounts of rainfall
Antarctica

30
Q

Temperate

A

There are cold winters with snow or rain
Warm summers with low rainfall
uK

31
Q

Mediterranean

A

Mild and wet winters
Long summers are dry and have warm to hot temperatures
Spain

32
Q

Desert (hot desert)

A

In winter there are slightly colder temperatures but still extremely hot
The hottest and driest time of the year temperatures can reach to 39°C very little rainfall
Sahara Desert

33
Q

Tropical

A

In winter there are warm temperatures and lots of rain
In summer there are warm temperatures and lots of rain
Amazon rainforest, Brazil

34
Q

Climate graph rules

A

Be drawn in pencil and labelled in pen.
Have data that is plotted accurately
Include a title that says what the graph is about
Temperature is shown by a red line, dots for the lines should be plotted half way through the month squares
Include the units for the x and y axis
Months of the year are shown on the horizontal (bottom) axes and rainfall and temperature are shown on the vertical (side) axes.
Precipitation is shown in blue bars, they should be the same width and evenly spread
All axes must be clearly labelled with a name
All straight line drawn with a ruler

35
Q

What is a microclimate?

A

A microclimate is a long term weather condition that is found in a relatively small area. For example, a wood, a town, a mountain valley etc.

36
Q

What are physical features?

A

Physical features are areas of vegetation, water and mountains.

37
Q

How do physical features affect the temperature and wind?

A

A body of water has a cooling effect on the local climate and often produce light winds. Vegetation influences the local climate as it can provide shelter from wind and sunlight. The wind and sunlight would decrease.

38
Q

What is altitude?

A

Altitude is height.

39
Q

How can altitude affect the temperature and wind?

A

At high altitudes there is a greater amount of wind, this is because there is no shelter at the peak of hills or mountains, so the top is exposed to the winds. Higher altitudes have a much cooler microclimate. This is because the temperature drops 1°C every 100m this is because the air pressure drops. This is why you can sometimes get snow on the top of mountains.

40
Q

How can buildings affect the temperature outside?

A

Buildings often give off heat that has been stored from the sun during the day or which leaks from the heating systems which can cause temperatures near buildings to be 2-3°C higher.

41
Q

How can buildings affect the wind around them?

A

Buildings also break up the wind and can reduce the wind speeds by up to a third. Sometimes the wind can increase speed as it rushes around buildings.

42
Q

What kind of surface warms up quicker and what kind of surface warms up slower?

A

Dark surfaces such as concrete pavements and records made out of tarmac heat up very quickly. This is because dark surfaces absorb heat from the sunlight. Light surfaces e.g. grass stay cool in the heat this is because they reflect light from the sun meaning that it does not heat up the ground.

43
Q

How does the colour of the ground affect the temperature?

A

The colour of the grounds surface can affect the climate bog a particular area the darker the surface the hotter it will be and the lighter the surface the cooler it will be as it absorbs less light.

44
Q

What does aspect mean?

A

The direction in which a place is facing. Places facing the sun will be warmer than those in the shadow.

45
Q

What kind of places get warmer in Britain?

A

In Britain, the sun rises in the East and moves through the South before it sets in the west. South facing places in the northern hemisphere get most of the sun and are usually the warmest.

46
Q

Causes of weather

A
  • the Sun heats the Earth unevenly
  • Earth in turn warms the air, which rises
  • Rising air leads to wind, because air from a colder place flows in to replace it
  • the Suns heat also causes water to evaporate
  • the Suns heat also causes water to evaporate giving water vapour
  • when the air rises it cools, so the water vapour condenses giving clouds of water droplets
  • droplets join to make larger drops, which fall as rain, snow, sleet, hailstones etc.
47
Q

How many layers is the atmosphere divided into?

A

5

48
Q

Troposphere

A
  • Contains half of the Earths atmosphere

- Weather occurs in this later

49
Q

Stratosphere

A
  • many airplanes fly in the stratosphere as it is very stable
  • also the ozone layer absorbs harmful rays from the sun
50
Q

Mesosphere

A

Meteors or rock fragments burn up in the mesosphere

51
Q

Thermosphere

A

It’s the layers with auroras and where the space shuttles orbit

52
Q

Exosphere

A
  • layer where the atmosphere merges into space

- extremely thin

53
Q

Air mass

A
  • A big lump of atmosphere

- responsible for bringing different types of weather

54
Q

Prevailing wind

A
  • It is from the south west and makes sure it is the mor dominant air mass
  • comes from a war, area passing over the Atlantic Ocean picking up a lot of water vapour
  • brings wet, cloudy, mild conditions
55
Q

Jet streams

A
  • Bonds of strong wind which normally travel from west to east
  • high in the atmosphere
  • travel up to 250mph
56
Q

Polar maritime air mass

A
  • From Greenland, Arctic Sea
  • cold wet air
  • brings cold showery weather
57
Q

Tropical maritime air mass

A
  • From Atlantic

- warm, moist air cloud, rain and mild weather

58
Q

Arctic maritime air mass

A
  • From Arctic
  • cld wet air
  • brings snow in Winter
59
Q

Polar continental air mass

A
  • From Central Europe
  • hot air
  • brings dry summers
  • cold air brings snow in Winter
60
Q

Tropic continental air mass

A
  • From North Africa

- hot, dry air brings hot weather in Summer

61
Q

Low clouds:

A

Nimbostratus, stratus, stratocumulus, cumulus

62
Q

Middle clouds:

A

Altocumulus, altostratus, cumulonimbus (anvil top)

63
Q

High clouds:

A

Cirrocumulus(mackerel sky), cirrostratus(halo around sun), circus

64
Q

What cloud creates a halo effect around the sun?

A

Cirrostratus

65
Q

Which cloud gives thunderstorms

A

Cumulonimbus

66
Q

How does frontal rainfall occur?

A
  • A warm air mass meets a cold air mass
  • warm air mass is forced to rise above the cold air mass
  • as the warm air rises it cools and condenses producing clouds
  • further forcing of the air causes precipitation to fall
67
Q

Convectional rainfall

A
  • the sun provides the heat source heating up the ground quickly
  • air rises very quickly through convection currents
  • the air rises as it cools rapidly
  • Large clouds develop above the rising air as the air cannot hold so much water
  • torrential rain and thunderstorms are produced
68
Q

Where are Britain’s uplands?

A

In the North and West

69
Q

Distance from the sea

A
  • The sea keeps coastal places warm in Winter, but may cool them in Summer
  • places far inland have warm summers and cool winters
70
Q

Does weather vary because of latitude?

A

Yes

-closer to the equator the warmer you are

Geography Yr 8 (10 decks)

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