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28 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What controls the regional climate:
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- proximity to water
-- latitude -- altitude -- proximity to currents -- proximity to mountains -- proximity to high and low pressure zones • Vegetation is an indicator of both precipitation and temperature making it a good indicator of climate too |
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What controls the seasons:
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The Earth’s axis tilt
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Why temperature variations are larger over land than over water:
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Heat capacity – how much heat can be absorbed without temperature change
•Heat capacity of oceans is very high -Oceans can absorb a lot of heat energy with relatively little temperature change -- heat distributed over a much greater depth in ocean (heat energy by convection) • Ocean = heat energy transferred by convection • Land = heat energy transferred by conduction |
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The difference between heat and temperature:
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Heat Energy- total kinetic energy of a substance
Temperature - measure of average kinetic energy • Heat doubles temperature stays the same |
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The major constituents of the atmosphere:
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• 99.96 % of atmosphere is composed of N, O, and Ar
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A few major greenhouse gases:
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Water Vapor (H2O)
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Methane (CH4) Ozone (O3) |
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The greenhouse effect:
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•Sun heats up Earth
•Gases being reflected off the Earth •Absorbed by greenhouse gases •Gases heat up •Emit long wave radiation |
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How temperature changes with height:
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Temperature goes down, then up, then down, then up
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How pressure changes with height:
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Air is concentrated at low altitudes → higher pressure (gradually decreases)
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What it means to adiabatically cool or heat a parcel of air:
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1. Pressure decreases
2. Air parcel expands 3. Air temperature decreases (adiabatic cooling) 4. Clouds form (if air is wet) ----------------------------- 1. Pressure increases 2. Air parcels compress 3 Temperature increases (adiabatic heating) |
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How and where clouds form:
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-(1) Convection causes warm air to rise
(2) Convergence lifting- two air masses collide and air is forced upward (3) Orographic lifting- mountains force air upwards (moist air rises, dry air descends) (4) Frontal lifting occurring when a cold and warm front meet |
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Cold Front
Warm Front |
Cold front- cold air mass flows under warm air mass
Warm front- warm air mass flows over cold air mass |
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Areas of high and low precipitation on Earth:
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Precipitation and pressure adversely related
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The definition of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and how it affects regional climate:
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Intertropical Convergence Zone- convergence of north-east trades and south-east trades, zone of precipitation
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Climate Controls
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• Latitude
• Proximity to high & low pressure zones - Low pressure = wet climate - High pressure = dry climate • Altitude - Low altitudes = cooler temperature - High altitudes = higher temperature • Proximity to water • Proximity to ocean currents • Proximity to orographic barrier |
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Air
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a mixture of gases
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Atmosphere
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a layer consisting of a mixture of gases that surrounds our planet
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Climate
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the average weather conditions during the year
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Insolation
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– incoming solar energy, portions of the Earth’s surface hit by direct rays of the Sun receive more energy per square meter than portions hit by oblique rays
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Mesosphere
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where the temperature decreases in the Earth, does not absorb much solar energy and thus cools with increasing distance from the hotter stratosphere below
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Monsoon
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a major reversal in wind direction that causes a shift from a very dry season to a very rainy season
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Ozone
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a gas that absorbs harmful ultraviolet (short-wavelength) radiation from the Sun
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Stratosphere
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– the layer between the tropopause and the stratosphere and does not convect and thus remains stable and stratified, temperature stays the same
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Thermosphere
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– outermost layer of the atmosphere and contains very little of the atmosphere’s gas, temperature increases with elevation because gases absorb short-wavelength solar energy (the Sun broils this layer from above), because it has so little gas it contains very little heat
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Troposphere
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– starts at the surface of the Earth, temperature decreases progressively, air constantly goes through convection, heat that initiates movement comes from infrared radiation rising from the Earth’s surface
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Adiabatic cooling / heating
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Adiabatic cooling – when air moves from a region of higher pressure to a region of lower pressure, without adding or subtracting heat, it expands and when this happens, the air temperature decreases
Adiabatic warming – if air moves from a region of lower pressure to a region of higher pressure, it contracts, and the air temperature increases |
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Greenhouse effect
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the trapping of heat in the Earth’s atmosphere by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which absorb infrared radiation; somewhat analogous to the effect of glass in a greenhouse
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Greenhouse gas
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atmospheric gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, that regulates the Earth’s atmospheric temperature by absorbing infrared radiation
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