The Atmosphere
The Earth's atmosphere is divided into ____ main layers.
What are four (sometimes five)?
Because air has mass, it also has ____ and _____ properties.
What are density and pressure?
In the water cycle, water vapor enters the atmosphere by ____.
What is evaporation?
The difference between climate and weather.
Weather is the temperature, wind, clouds, and precipitation of a single day. Climate is the temperature, wind, clouds, and precipitation averaged over many years.
List two sources that scientists can use to learn about ancient climates.
What are pollen, tree rings, and ice cores?
This natural event occurs in the troposphere?
What is weather?
This effect causes global winds to turn as they move around Earth.
What is the Coriolis Effect?
The three steps of the water cycle.
What are evaporation, condensation, and precipitation?
List two things that affect temperature.
What are latitude, altitude, distance from large bodies of water, ocean currents, and geothermal activity?
When Earth's orbit is more elliptical and the Earth's wobble on its axis tilts the summer away from the sun, this happens every 100,000 years.
What is an ice age?
The sun's energy travels to Earth as ______ .
What are electromagnetic waves (also known as solar radiation)?
Air pressure decreases as ____ increases.
What is altitude?
The measure of water vapor in the air.
What is humidity?
Montana has this type of climate.
What is a temperate continental climate?
List 2 natural factors that can cause climate change.
What are Earth's position, continental movement, solar energy, and volcanic activity?
The main layers of the atmosphere are _______ .
What are troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and (sometimes) exosphere?
Winds that blow short distances are called _____, while winds that blow long distances are called ________.
What are local winds and global winds?
Clouds form when water vapor in the air _________.
What is condenses to form liquid water or ice crystals?
Scientist classify climates based on _______ and _______.
What is temperature and precipitation?
The gradual increase in the temperature of Earth's atmosphere.
What is global warming?
When gases hold heat in the atmosphere.
What is the greenhouse effect?
Earth's atmosphere consists of ____, _____, _____, _____, and other gases.
What are nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor?
List three common types of precipitation.
What are rain, sleet, freezing rain, snow, and hail?
The six main climate regions.
What are tropical rain, dry, temperate marine, temperate continental, polar, and highlands?
List 3 effects of global warming.
What are melting glaciers, rising sea levels, drought, desertification, changes to the biosphere, and regional changes in temperature?