Weather/Climate Flashcards
What is Weather ?
The specific day-day conditions in an area
What is climate?
The average of conditions in an area over time
Factors affecting climate (4) :
Latitude
Elevation
Air masses
Nearness to large bodies of water
What is Latitude give an example:
Latitude is the angle measured north to south from the equator
EX: Canada is colder than the United States
What is elevation? Give an example:
The height of land measured above sea level
EX: Mount Everest has the highest elevation number
What is air masses? Give an example :
Large portions of air with uniform temperature and humidity
EX: there is humid air in America
What is nearness to large bodies of water? Give an Example:
Keeps the temperature more consistent
EX: we get a lot of snow because we are closer to a lot of water
What causes weather?
All weather on earth is caused by energy coming from the sun(solar radiation)
What drives weather processes?
Infrared radiation, the only electromagnetic radiation from the sun that provides heat
What are the percents of suns energy hitting earth?
70% is absorbed
30% is reflected
What is insolation? Give an example:
Is the amount of solar energy hitting an area
EX: it is greater at the equator then the poles because the suns rays hit the equator most, why it’s so hot
What is albedo? Give an example:
The ability a material has to reflect light and heat
EX: snow has high albedo, while a rock doesn’t
What are the 3 components of a biosphere?
Lithosphere
Hydrosphere
Atmosphere
Where does weather happen?
In the earths biosphere
What is lithosphere?
Solid part of the earth
What is hydrosphere?
Liquid part of the earth
What is atmosphere?
Gas part of the earth, affect by climate
What is a carbon source? Give an example:
Is any process that releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
EX: a land fill releases a lot of carbon dioxide because of all the decaying
What do carbon sources affect?
Global warming, by adding more greenhouse gasses that trap in the suns heat
What is carbon sink? Give an example:
Is any process that takes carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and stores it
EX: plants hold carbon dioxide in their tissues.
What does carbon sink affect?
Global warming, the more carbon sinks the less greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere of to trap heat
What are the 3 main greenhouse gasses:
Carbon dioxide
Methane
Nitrous oxide
What is global warming potential?
The ability of a gas to trap thermal energy over time
What is persistence?
The length of time a gas remains in the atmosphere
What does anthropogenic mean?
The human activity producing climate change
What is atmospheric pressure?
The weight of the atmosphere pushing down on earth
What happens to altitude when atmospheric pressure decreases?
Altitude increases
What is used to measure atmospheric pressure?
A barometer
What happens when pressure drops or rises
If dropped poor weather is to come
If rises good weather is to come
What is humidity?
When water vapour is in the air
What is a condensation nuclei?
When water droplets form around little particles
What does the formation of droplets depend on?
The temperature of air (warm air has more vapour then cold air)
And
The amount of water vapour in the air(humidity)
What is a cloud/fog?
Is a formation of water droplets which join to form larger water droplets that then get to heavy and fall as rain
When do clouds form?
When warm, moist air rises and cools
How can air be forced up?
Land forms
Cold or warm air fronts
Convection
What are the 3 main types of clouds:
Cumulus
Stratus
cirrus
What is a cumulus cloud?
Big “fluffy” often has a flat base
What is a Stratus cloud?
Flat, covers a large area, gives an overcast look
What is. Cirrus cloud?
“Wispy”, high altitude, made of ice crystals
What are clouds with precipitation called?
Nimbus
When does precipitation happen? What does it depend on?
When air cools and becomes saturated with water Vapour, it depends on temperature in the different layers of air
What is the formation of freezing rain?
When freezing air is so thin that water droplets don’t have enough time to freeze fully before hitting the ground
What is a hailstone?
It is a form of precipitation consisting of ice, which is form in a thunderstorm updraft
What is sea breeze?
When air on land gets warm and rises leaving an area with low pressure that then air from the cold sea blows in and fills the area creating a breeze
What is a land breeze?
At night when the sea is warmer then the land the sea cold air rises leaving a spot with low pressure that then cool land air moves in and fills the area creating a breeze
What is thermal energy?
The total kinetic energy of the moving particles in a substance
What is temperature?
The measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles of a substance
What is heat?
The transfer of thermal energy from one substance to another
What are the 3 ways heat transfers?
Conduction
Convection
Radiation
What is conduction?
The process when heat is transmitted through a substance when there is a difference of temperature
What is convection?
When the movement of fluids temperature increases, and the density lowers
What is radiation?
Is when thermal energy is carried as electromagnetic radiation.(infrared radiation)
The 4 Layers of earths atmosphere:
Troposphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Thermosphere
What is a biome?
A large area with a defined range of temperature and precipitation
The 6 Biomes:
Tundra
Teliga Bore Forest
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Temperate Grassland
Temperate Coniferous Forest
Mountains
What does a climateograph do?
Shows the monthly average of temperatures and precipitation totals of an area
Lines-temperature
Bars-precipitation
