Chapter 26: Weather – Flashcards
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The troposphere is warmed mostly by...
solar radiation.
long-wave radiation.
clouds.
short-wave radiation.
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Long-wave radiation.
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How are weather and climate related?
-Climate and weather are both produced by plate tectonics.
-Climate is the weather at a particular place and time.
-Climate is the average weather over a period of many years.
-Weather is climate that can be measured.
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Climate is the average weather over a period of many years.
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The underlying cause of weather is that heat flows from...
-low pressure regions to high pressure regions.
-from the atmosphere to troposphere.
-warm regions to cold regions.
-cold regions to warm regions.
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Warm regions to cold regions.
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What is Earth's atmosphere?
-The hydrosphere, the lithosphere, and the biosphere
-Several types of gas.
-Oxygen and nitrogen gas.
-A mixture of tiny solid particles, gases, and liquid droplets.
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A mixture of tiny solid particles, gases, and liquid droplets.
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Which of the following characteristics of Earth's relationship to the Sun explains the existence of Earth's seasons?
-Earth has a satellite called the Moon, which rotates around Earth.
-Earth's axis always points in the same direction relative to the stars.
-Earth spins on its axis, completing one rotation each day.
-Earth orbits around the Sun, completing one orbit each year.
-Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane.
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-Earth's axis always points in the same direction relative to the stars.
-Earth spins on its axis, completing one rotation each day.
-Earth orbits around the Sun, completing one orbit each year.
-Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane.
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What is the June solstice?
-the time of the year when Earth's geographic North Pole is leaning most directly away from the Sun.
-the time of the year when Earth's geographic North and South Poles are leaning in similar ways toward the Sun.
-the time of the year when Earth's geographic North Pole is leaning most directly toward the Sun.
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-the time of the year when Earth's geographic North Pole is leaning most directly toward the Sun.
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How does the inclination of Earth's axis change over the course of a year?
-The inclination of Earth's axis becomes shorter.
-The inclination of Earth's axis becomes steeper.
-The inclination of Earth's axis becomes shallower.
-The inclination of Earth's axis does not change.
-The inclination of Earth's axis becomes longer.
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-The inclination of Earth's axis does not change.
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What is the December solstice?
-The time of the year when Earth's geographic North Pole is leaning most directly away from the Sun.
-The time of the year when Earth's geographic North Pole is leaning most directly toward the Sun.
-The time of the year when the Earth's geographic North and South Poles are leaning in similar ways toward the Sun.
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-The time of the year when Earth's geographic North Pole is leaning most directly away from the Sun.
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When are the Sun's rays perpendicular to Earth's surface at the equator?
-September Equinox
-December Solstice
-June Solstice
-March Equinox
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-September Equinox
-March Equinox
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Where does the length of day remain the same throughout the year?
-at the equator
-within 10 degrees of the South Pole
-within 10 degrees of the North Pole
-at the Tropic of Cancer
-at the Tropic of Capricorn
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-at the equator
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When do all locations on Earth experience equal lengths of day and night?
-March Equinox
-September Equinox
-December Solstice
-June Solstice
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-March Equinox
-September Equinox
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The troposphere is the atmospheric layer where...
-weather occurs.
-ozone absorbs incoming ultraviolet radiation from space.
-the Aurora Borealis occurs.
-temperature increases with altitude.
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weather occurs.
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Why are you more likely to get sunburned if you visit a low-latitude location compared to a high-latitude location?
-Low-latitude locations are closer to the Sun than polar regions.
-Solar rays strike low-latitude locations at an oblique angle.
-Solar rays strike low-latitude locations most directly.
-Low-latitude locations have a thin atmosphere and low levels of ozone.
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Solar rays strike low-latitude locations most directly.
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When it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, Earth is tilted...
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so that the North Pole tilts toward the Sun.
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What other natural hazards are associated with tornado formation?
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thunderstorms
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Why does air spiral parallel to Earth's surface during initial stages of tornado formation?
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Because of friction, surface winds move more slowly than winds higher in the air column.
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What can cause the horizontally rotating air spiral to become the vertical spiral of a tornado?
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Updrafts associated with thunderstorm clouds can tilt the horizontal column of spinning air.
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How are mesocyclones and tornadoes related?
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Mesocyclones can turn into funnel clouds. A funnel cloud that touches the ground is called a tornado.
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What is the scientific name for the dark, tall, puffy clouds that indicate a thunderstorm is coming?
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cumulonimbus clouds
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What clouds extend from low altitudes to very high levels of the troposphere?
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Cumulus clouds.
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Moist air blows across warm water to colder areas inland. What might this produce?
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fog
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Clouds continually are pulled to the ground by gravity. Why do they stay aloft?
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Updrafts of air oppose the gravitational force.
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What is a front?
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the boundary between two air masses of different temperatures.
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Where does rain occur in a warm front?
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Rain occurs along and in front of a warm front.
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Where does rain occur in a cold front?
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Rain occurs along and behind a cold front.
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How are rain patterns different near warm and cold fronts?
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Rain near a cold front occurs over a smaller spatial area and is more intense than near a warm front.
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How are cold and warm fronts different?
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The type of front is determined by which air mass is moving.
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Why does rain occur near a cold front?
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Rising warm air cools, resulting in cloud formation and rain.
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Why does rain occur near a warm front?
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Rising warm air cools, resulting in cloud formation and rain.
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What causes the development of most clouds and precipitation in the atmosphere?
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rising air
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Under what conditions would a parcel of air rise relative to other air in the atmosphere?
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A parcel of air will rise if it has a lower density than the surrounding air.
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Which factor is most important for determining the density of a parcel of air?
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temperature
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What will happen if a parcel of air is colder than surrounding air?
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A colder parcel of air will rise in the atmosphere if forced.
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What will happen to a parcel of air as it rises?
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A rising parcel of air will expand and cool.
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Which would have a higher temperature, an unsaturated parcel of air at Earth's surface or a saturated parcel of air 4000 feet above Earth's surface?
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An unsaturated parcel of air at Earth's surface would be warmer because the drop in temperature due to elevation is greater than any temperature difference due to saturation.
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Two parcels of air, one dry and one wet, sit at the same temperature at sea level. What will the temperature difference between the two bodies of air be after they rise to an elevation of 2000 feet?
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The dry parcel of air will be 8 degrees colder than the wet parcel of air.
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In general, when will clouds begin to form out of a parcel of air?
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when a rising parcel of air has reached a temperature below its dew point
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Which process can add heat to a rising body of air?
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condensation
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What is a cold front?
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The contact zone between a cold mass and a warm air mass where the cold air mass is moving into a warm air mass and pushing it upward.
