Is this direct or indirect insolation? Would you expect this area of earth to be consistently warm or consistently cold?
Indirect, cold
What are the two causes of the Coriolis Effect?
Rotation of the Earth
Uneven heating of the earth
Hot air (rises, or falls)
Cold air (rises or falls)
Hot air rises
Cold air falls
In what layer of the atmosphere is weather located?
Troposphere
What is the definition of insolation?
The amount of incoming solar radiation on the Earth
If the amount of dry land on earth were reduced by 50%, how would that affect the amount of solar radiation that is absorbed by Earth’s surface?
If we had less dry land, there would be less energy absorbed by Earth’s surface. We would expect the blue section of the pie chart to get smaller. The earth would cool because there would be less energy absorbed by the earth's surface.
Which direction does most of Arizona’s weather come from?
From the west because of the prevailing westerlies
What is different about the hurricanes? Why are they different?
The rotate in different directions. One formed in the northern hemisphere and the other formed in the southern hemisphere.
Where is the ozone layer located?
In what layer of the atmosphere is the aurora borealis (northern lights) located?
Thermosphere
Explain how solar energy is changed when it is ABSORBED by either earth’s surface or by the atmosphere
Solar energy comes to Earth in the form of electromagnetic radiation that we see as light. When it is absorbed by the surface the light energy is changed into heat energy.
Summarize the movement of air within the Hadley cells.
Hot air rises and flows toward the poles. It cools and drops at about 30 degrees north, then flows along the surface of the earth (as winds!) back toward the equator.
This is an image of the solar insolation in the month of December. Why is the southern hemisphere so hot?
The southern hemisphere receives direct radiation in December making it their summer.
Why is ozone "good up there, bad down here?"
Ozone absorbs UV radiation in the stratosphere but in the troposphere, it's a part of smog and acts as a lung and eye irritant.
On December 21st the South Pole will receive 24-hours of sunlight, but the average temperature will be about -21 C. Explain why the climate is cold even though the sun never sets.
The south pole receives only indirect insolation all year long so it never absorbs much heat. This give it a cold climate year round
Is this Direct or Indirect Insolation? Would this part of the earth be consistently warm or consistently cold?
Direct, warm
What is the name of the band of surface winds closest to the equator?
Trade winds
What is this picture describing?
Convection currrent
Draw a diagram of an ozone molecule. How is that different from the Oxygen we breathe?
Energy comes from the sun to earth in this form: it includes ultraviolet, visible and infrared energy
Electromagnetic radiation
If the number of clouds in the atmosphere were doubled, how would that affect the temperature of the Earth?
Gray and Yellow sections would increase, blue would decrease. Earth would cool because less solar radiation would make it to the Earth's surface
Name two careers who really need to know about the coriolis effect.
Piolot, meteorologist
Standing on the edge of the ocean, facing the water, at midnight, what direction would you expect the wind to blow?
The wind should blow on your back because the land has cooled off faster than the water. The water is comparatively warm and so it heats the air above it. The air rises, creating a low pressure at the surface of the water and the cooler air flows in along the surface to take its place.
In what layer of the atmosphere do meteors burn up?
Mesosphere
What percentage of incoming solar radiation is absorbed by the surface of the earth?
50%