Water Cycle
When a liquid changes to a gas
Evaporation
What powers the water cycle?
What is humidity?
Water vapor in the atmosphere.
As you go up a mountain the temperature goes...
down
Describe the difference between weather and climate.
Weather is the condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place, whereas climate is the characteristic weather in an area over a long period of time.
When a gas changes to a liquid
condensation
List the steps of the water cycle.
Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection
What is the movement of air caused by differences in air pressure?
Wind
The pattern of temperature and precipitation over several decades describes what?
An area's climate
Who studies and reports weather and climate changes?
meteorologists
plant leaves losing water
transpiration
Rain, sleet, snow and hail are examples of what process?
precipitation
atmospheric conditions that are happening at a particular time
An area's weather
What is a rain shadow?
Mountains block the moisture from reaching the other side
Why are the polar zones so cold?
Less direct sunlight
Why does it rain more in the summer?
more sunlight, warmer
How clouds form.
As warm air rises, it expands and cools allowing the water vapor to condense. What is this?
Where two air masses meet
Front
The sun's energy drives the _______, which determines precipitation. In this way, the sun influences climate of a given region.
water cycle.
Cold all year long. Far from the equator.
Polar Zone
What processes put water vapor into the atmosphere?
evaporation, transpiration
Describe precipitation and the types of precipitation that can occur and when?
moisture in the air from evaporation condenses and falls back to earth in the form of rain, sleet, snow or hail. When temperatures are below freezing, snow is likely to result.
Why are tropical areas so humid?
close to the equator, so they have more sunlight.
Tropical zones along the equator tend to be humid, warm and have lots of precipitation. why is this?
They are exposed to more sunlight, causing warm water to evaporate and precipitate more frequently.
What are three things that can affect climate?
Latitude, distance from a large body of water, and elevation.