Term
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Definition
| rapid vertical uplift, cloud formation, latent heat released, downdraft section develops causing precipitation, downdraft strengthens and cuts the updraft and stops the flow of unmoist air |
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Term
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Definition
| a thunderstorm with a rotating updraft called a MESOCYCLONE, windshear (jet stream), extreme weather is generated |
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Term
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Definition
| single and supercell, collision of ice particles in clouds |
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Term
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Definition
| caused by lightning; energy heats the air, the air expands, and it becomes an ordinary sound wave |
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Term
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Definition
| single and super cell; water droplet is picked up by the updrafts and it freezes, then it falls in the cold downdraft, then it is picked up again in the updraft and it refreezes before it falls to the ground |
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Term
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Definition
| convergence of warm moist air, thunderstorms are most common |
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Term
| area with frequent thunderstorms |
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Definition
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Term
| ideal conditions for a tornado to form |
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Definition
| a super cell; cold front and jet stream/ windshear and mesocyclone |
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Term
| size, speed, and duration of tornadoes |
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Definition
| avg diameter of 150 ft (largest 1 mile), 30 - 70 mph, from 5 minutes to 1 hour |
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Term
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Definition
| largest number of tornado deaths in U.S. history; Illinois, Indiana, Missouri |
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Term
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Definition
| Oklahoma, F5 produced 318 mph winds, strongest ever recorded |
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Term
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Definition
| largest tornado outbreak on record, record for the most violent F5 and F4 tornadoes |
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Term
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Definition
| leading cause of weather related deaths |
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Term
| essential in formation of tropical cyclones |
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Definition
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Term
| Where do typhoons, cyclones, and hurricanes occur (which oceans)? |
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Definition
| typhoons:western pacific ; cyclones: southern hemisphere and indian ocean ; hurricane: atlantic and pacific |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| warmth by compression of air |
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Term
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Definition
| Intertropical Convergence Zone; trade winds are converging, strongest solar radiation, beginning of hadley cell |
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Term
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Definition
| lack of wind/light variable winds, doesn't go anywhere; a lot of rain at the ITCZ LOW PRESSURE |
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Term
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Definition
| HIGH PRESSURE latitude=falling air=dry! major deserts around 30 N and S, clear weather |
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Term
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Definition
| 60 N and S; collision of warmer westerlies with polar easterlies=rising air=clouds and rain/LOW PRESSURE |
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Term
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Definition
| cold air advances and clouds form; warm air forced up rapidly; severe weather |
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Term
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Definition
| warm air advances; rise gradually over cold air; clouds and possible precipitation |
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Term
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Definition
| a seasonal reversal in pressure and trade wind direction; the shift in pressure causes the change in the trade winds. June to Sept is rainy season, Oct to may is dry season |
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Term
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Definition
| heat energy which is absorbed or released during a change of state |
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Term
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Definition
| large region of air with uniform temperature and moisture content |
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Term
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Definition
| a large low pressure system "cyclone" that forms outside of the tropics, mid latitude storms are extra tropical cyclones |
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Term
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Definition
| the movement of air from high to low pressure |
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Term
| 4 processes that cause a rapid vertical uplift of air |
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Definition
| 1) topography 2) cold front/frontal wedging 3) convergence 4) localized convective lifting |
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Term
| most efficient method of vertical lifting |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| EF Scale; based on damage |
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Term
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Definition
| measures intensity of rainfall and detects directions of movement (wind), used for thunderstorm and hurricane forcasting |
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Term
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Definition
| change in wind speed or direction with height; important for the formation of tornadoes, not good for tropical cyclones |
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Term
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Definition
| a thunderstorm with a rotating updraft |
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Term
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Definition
| when there are high pressure conditions east of CA in the deserts, dry, WIND |
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Term
| Why are there more tornadoes in the central plain states/ tornado alley |
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Definition
| 1) cold air form rocky mtns or northern states 2) jet stream above 3) warm moist air from the gulf |
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Term
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Definition
| forms at the polar front, fast moving upper level winds, moves from west to east, THE WINDS COLLIDING AND DIVERGING CAUSE WEATHER , CHANGES ON THE EARTHS SURFACE, between 60 and 30 of n. hemisphere (most of US), influences the high and low pressure systems below, at the top of the troposphere |
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Term
| direction the earth rotates |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| An apparent deflection of any free moving object to the right in the N. Hemisphere and to the left in the S. Hemisphere |
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Term
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Definition
| between 0 and 30, out of east towards the west |
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Term
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Definition
| between 30 and 60; out of the west towards the east |
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Term
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Definition
| between 60 and 90; out of the east towards the west |
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Term
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Definition
| between 0 and 30; warm moist air rises at 0 and cold air sinks at 30 |
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Term
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Definition
| between 30 and 60; cold air sinks at 30 and moist air rises at 60 |
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Term
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Definition
| between 60 and 90; warm air rises at 60 and cold dry air sinks at 90 (poles) |
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Term
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Definition
| thicker at the equator and gets thinner towards the poles |
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Term
| distribution of solar radiation over Earth's surface |
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Definition
| causes the seasons, the EARTH'S TILT |
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Term
| when do tornadoes mostly occur |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| formed by the decrease in temperature and adiabatic air cooling |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| enhanced normal conditions; stronger than normal trade winds; dryer conditions in eastern pacific; little rain and cold ocean water |
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Term
| connection between hurricane activity in the atlantic and el nino |
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Definition
| when el nino occurs there are less hurricanes for the same year |
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Term
| el nino conditions in san diego |
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Definition
| a lot of rain, warmer water |
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Term
| el nino conditions in Peru |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| along the coastlines, wind causes the colder water from below to rise to the surface |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| fly missions into the eyes of hurricanes; improve forecasting by 25%, airborne doppler radar, derived windspeed |
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Term
| coastlines in the US with most hurricanes |
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Definition
| the gulf coast and the east coast (florida), convergence of warm water |
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Term
| Hurricane Mitch October 1998 |
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Definition
| central america, category 5, flooding and landslides |
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Term
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Definition
| Indian Ocean; Burma/Myanmar ; 140,000 people dead or missing |
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Term
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Definition
| gulf coast, category 5 offshore and 3 on land, storm surge/flooding, most expensive US disaster today |
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Term
| 2005 hurricane season in the atlantic |
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Definition
| most active season on record; most category five hurricanes in a season, costly |
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Term
| hurricane andrew august 1992 |
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Definition
| Florida Category 5, winds caused most damage |
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Term
| minimum wind speeds for tropical cyclone |
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Definition
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Term
| 2 stages before tropical cyclone |
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Definition
| tropical depression and tropical storm |
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Term
| hurricane seasons 2004 and 2005 |
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Definition
| very costly years, a lot of damage because of storms |
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Term
| hurricane seasons 2004 and 2005 |
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Definition
| very costly years, a lot of damage because of storms |
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Term
| why so many lives lost in the indian ocean |
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Definition
| because of the high concentrations of people in a small area, third world countries, lack of funds and technologies |
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Term
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Definition
| the center of a tropical cyclone or hurricane |
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Term
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Definition
| damaging winds and intense rainfall because of rapid drop in pressure (movement from high to low) |
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Term
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Definition
| powers tropical cyclones; it is when water vapor condenses into liquid water |
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Term
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Definition
| rising of sea level due to low pressure (rising air) adn high winds/waves; major cause of hurricane damage, significant flooding |
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Term
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Definition
| very common along the Gulf of East Coast of the US; low lying, long narrow islands separated from the mainland |
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Term
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Definition
| wind speed is the determining factor in the scale (for hurricanes) and there are five categories |
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Term
| what does the precambrian era represent |
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Definition
| all time before 544 million |
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Term
| what are the three eras of the geologic time scale |
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Definition
| cenozoic, mesozoic, paleozoic |
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Term
| years of the cenozoic era |
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Definition
|
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Term
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Definition
| 65 million to 250 million |
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Term
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Definition
| 250 million to 544 million |
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Term
| what era are we currently in? |
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Definition
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Term
| when were the last two extinctions? |
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Definition
| 65 million and 250 million |
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Term
| 5 causes of global climate change |
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Definition
| 1) variations in the earth's orbit around the sun 2) tectonic processes 3) changes in the strength of the sun 4) volcanic activity 5) anthropogenic Forcing |
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Term
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Definition
| explains how the Earth's orbital variations affect climate change on a global scale |
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Term
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Definition
| degree to which Earth's orbit around the sun departs from the perfect circle |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| 3 ways the earths orbit can vary |
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Definition
| eccentricity, tilt of the earth, precession |
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Term
| Variation in the Earth's Orbit around the sun, GCC |
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Definition
| Long Term, affects the amount of radiation received on the earths surface |
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Term
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Definition
LONG TERM, equatorial circulation=warmer climate
polar circulation=cooler climate; causes change in currents and a change in atmospheric circulation; |
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Term
| Changes in the strength of the sun; GCC |
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Definition
| Long term, amount of solar radiation received on the Earth's surface; short term= Sunspot activity causes more energy and radiation |
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Term
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Definition
| Siberian flood basalt hotspots, emission of gasses, short term |
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Term
| Anthropogenic Forcing; GCC |
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Definition
| affect of humans of the climate |
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Term
| present day continental ice sheets |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; measures risk of climate change due to human activity, shared nobel peace prize with Al Gore |
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Term
| difference between climate and weather |
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Definition
| climate is over a longer time period and weather is over a shorter time period, changes on a daily basis; |
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Term
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Definition
| 65 Ma (end of mesozoic), Dinosaurs became extinct, caused by meteorite impact and volcanic activity in India and tsunami deposits, caused climate change |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| sea level change in glacial and interglacial cycle |
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Definition
| glacial: lowers; interglacial: rises |
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Term
| what has the sea level been doing for the last 15000 years |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| to courses and sinks of carbon |
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Term
| is human activity the only source of CO2 in the atmosphere? |
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Definition
| NO, photosynthesis , oceans |
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Term
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Definition
| water vapor, CO2, methane (CH4), ozone |
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Term
| why are they called greenhouse gases? |
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Definition
| because they trap the heat within the atmosphere and keep earth warm |
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Term
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Definition
| shows increase in CO2 since the 1950's,this is convincing evidence for anthropogenic influence on global warming |
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Term
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Definition
| methane gas trapped in ice in ocean floor sediments and permafrost regions, most potent greenhouse gas, 23 times more potent than CO2 |
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Term
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Definition
| how scientists learn about the climactic conditions 1000's of years ago, provides vertical timeline of past climates, stored in ice sheets |
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Term
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Definition
| 251 ma (end of paleozoic), largest extinction of all time, caused by Pangea/reduced shallow sea area and changed chemistry of oceans(temp increase caused lack of oxygen) and volcanic activity in Siberia (mantle plumes) |
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Term
| number of mass extinctions |
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Definition
| 5 total, 3 others that we did not discuss |
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Term
| when the geologic timescale begins |
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Definition
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Term
| what displays the human effects on the climate |
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Definition
|
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Term
| When was the little ice age, what is a possible cause? |
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Definition
| 1500-1850; lack of sunspot activity and less heat to the earth |
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Term
| Recent extinction of species |
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Definition
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Term
| Most common months for tornadoes |
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Definition
| spring! because of the convergence of cold air from the n and west and the warm air from the gulf |
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Term
| conditions for tropical cyclones |
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Definition
| warm water, and disturbance in trade winds-> low pressure |
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Term
| why does the ITCZ varies locations |
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Definition
| because of the Seasons! (tilt of earth) |
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Term
| what is responsible or the late cenozoic ice age |
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Definition
| orbital variation, tilt, path |
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