Water Cycle
What is the driving force behind the water cycle and the phase changes of water?
Evaporation
What type of weather typically follows a warm front with moist air?
Several days of light rain followed by warm, humid weather
Why do polar regions receive less solar energy than the equator?
Unequal Heating: The tilt of the Earth, the shape of the Earth, and the unequal heating of land and water.
What happens when the Sun heats water and it changes into vapor?
Evaporation
Which winds are found near the equator?
Trade winds
What is the driving force behind the water cycle and the phase changes of water?
The Sun
What happens to temperature and weather when a cold front passes through moist air?
Decrease in temperature and chance of thunderstorms
Which part of Earth’s surface heats up the most due to direct sunlight?
The Equator
What is the effect of solar radiation on atmospheric temperature near the equator?
Higher temperatures due to direct sunlight
What is a wind that goes from land to water at night called?
Land Breeze
In the water cycle, what happens to water vapor in the atmosphere for clouds to form?
The evaporated water cools, and drops get closer together-condensation.
What is the main factor determining global wind patterns?
Uneven heating of Earth’s surface by the Sun
What happens to air as it rises on the windward side of a mountain?
It cools and condenses, forming precipitation.
How do clouds form in the atmosphere?
Water vapor cools and condenses into tiny droplets
What kind of breeze blows from water to land during the day?
Sea Breeze
Water moves through plants and back to the atmosphere via what process?
Transpiration
How does the Coriolis effect influence wind movement?
Deflects winds to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and left in the Southern Hemisphere
What factor causes land breezes at night?
Land loses heat and cools faster than water
What weather occurs during a warm front?
Light rain and warm, humid weather
What are jet streams?
Fast-moving air currents in the upper atmosphere
What process describes water vapor cooling and turning to liquid in the atmosphere?
Condensation
What do we call an air mass that brings cold, dry air?
Continental Polar (cP) air mass
What climate phenomenon results in deserts on the leeward side of a mountain?
The rain shadow effect
What is the name of the rainfall caused by moist air being pushed up by a mountain?
Orographic rainfall
What causes global winds to move in specific patterns?
The uneven heating of Earth’s surface and the Coriolis Effect