Year 9 - Topic 2 - Weather Hazards Flashcards
Explain the water cycle
Explain convectional rainfall
Explain relief rainfall
Explain frontal rainfall
Describe cirrus clouds
Ice crystals
Thin
Wispy
Bad Weather
Describe cumulus clouds
Fluffy
Short, heavy showers
Describe stratus clouds
Covers sky
Light drizzle
Dull clouds
What is an air mass?
A huge block of air moving over the earth. It can be warm or cold, wet or dry depending on where it comes from
What is a dry air mass called and why is it dry?
If an air mass travels over land it brings dry conditions and is called a continental air mass
What is a wet air mass called and why is it wet?
If an air mass travels over the sea, it brings wet conditions and is called a maritime air mass
What is a cold air mass called and why is it cold?
If an air mass travels from the polar regions it brings cold weather and is simply called polar
What is a VERY cold air mass called and why is it VERY cold?
If an air mass travels from the arctic, it brings very cold weather and is simply called arctic
What is a warm air mass called and why is it warm?
If it travels from tropical regions it brings warm weather and is simply called tropical
What does Polar Maritime mean?
Cold and wet
What does Arctic Maritime mean?
Very cold and wet
What does Polar Continental mean?
Cold and dry
What does Tropical Maritime mean?
Warm and wet
What does Tropical Continental mean?
Warm and Dry
How are hurricanes formed?
- The sun heats up the ocean to 27°C
- The warm ocean heats the rising air above
- Rising warm air evaporates and starts to spin
- The air then cool and condenses to form clouds
- More air is sucked in, causing very strong winds to form
What were the social effects of Hurricane Katrina (around New Orleans, USA, in 2005)?
286 people died
346,000 homes were destroyed in New York
Supermarkets ran out of essentials
What were the economic effects of Hurricane Katrina (around New Orleans, USA, in 2005)?
$71 billion of damage
18,000 flights cancelled
Businesses lost out when NYC marathon was cancelled
Crop losses
What were the environmental effects of Hurricane Katrina (around New Orleans, USA, in 2005)?
70% of crops such as bananas and maize were destroyed in the south of Haiti
10m of beach was lost in New Jersey, exposing coast to more erosion
When do droughts occur?
Droughts occur when a long period of abnormally dry weather leads to a severe water shortage
What are the five causes of droughts?
Animals overgrazing
Limited periods of rainfall
Geographical location
Over-cultivation of land
Deforestation
How do animals overgrazing cause droughts?
Animals overgrazing the land exhausts the soil
How do limited periods of rainfall cause droughts?
They make the land abnormally drier than usual due to climate change
How does a country’s geographical location cause droughts?
Some countries are located in high pressure belts that receive limited rainfall e.g. the Sahel region of Africa
What is over-cultivation of land?
This means the land is continuously used to grow crops and never has time to recover
How does deforestation cause droughts?
Cutting down too many trees means the soil is unable to hold much moisture. This dries out the soil
What is an effects of droughts?
The soil becomes too dry to replant crops, which can lead to economic losses as crops cannot be sold, or famine as people are unable to eat
What are some responses from droughts?
People educate others on how to prevent infection at times of water shortage
Charities donate money and equipment
People switch to crops that don’t require much water
People leave land to recover between cultivating crops
What is a wildfire?
A wildfire is a large, uncontrolled fire that spreads quickly over shrub or forest land
What are physical (natural) causes of wildfires?
Lightning strikes
High temperatures combined with periods of no rainfall
What are human causes of wildfires?
Careless disposal of BBQs
Not putting out campfires
What are the effects of wildfires?
People have to be relocated as homes were destroyed by fires
Some industries are effected (e.g. wine industries as vineyards are destroyed)
Huge costs are spent trying to put out fires
Cost to rebuild damaged buildings
Animals harmed
What are the responses of wildfires?
People cut back shrubs and create natural breaks in vegetation to prevent fires spreading
People keep fuels away from sources of ignition
People educate popualtion on safely putting out fires
People warn others when risk of fire is high
People evacuate those in danger
‘Smoke Jumpers’ parachute into remote areas to provide support before emergency crews arrive
What is climate change?
Climate change is the long-term changes in our weather patterns
What is The Greenhouse (and Enhanced Greenhouse) effect?
What are two causes of climate change?
Cars and factories (burning fossil fuels to power cars and generate electricity releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere)
Deforestation (trees are cut down as populations increase. Trees take in CO2 so removing trees means less CO2 is removed from the air
What are the impacts of climate change?
Melting ice caps
Rising sea levels and coastal flooding
Drought
Increasing conflict
Loss of jobs and income
Poverty in areas reliant on farming
What is condensation?
Water changing from a gas to a liquid
What is convection?
When the sun heats the ground, warm air rises upwards, it cools as it sinks - this is a convection current
What is evaporation?
Water changing from a liquid to a gas
What is a hurricane?
A tropical storm that brings heavy rain and strong winds (75mph+)
What is precipitation?
Water falling from the sky as rain, sleet, hail, snow etc.
