The Atmosphere
What two gases make up 99% of the atmosphere?
nitrogen and oxygen
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Climate tracks weather conditions over along period of time (usually decades), while weather is for a specific point in time.
What is temperature?
The amount of heat in the atmosphere.
Define relative humidity.
It is the amount of water vapour in the air.
What is photosynthesis?
The process in which plants use sunlight to make their own food.
In what layer of the atmosphere does life exist?
Troposphere
What are weather forecasts?
Predictions of the weather, often for television or radio.
The difference between highest and lowest temperatures of a place at any given time is called what?
The thermal range
What is precipitation?
The return of water to the earth's surface from the clouds.
What do weather vanes measure?
The direction of the wind.
In what layer of the atmosphere is the ozone layer?
Stratosphere
What device mesures temperatures?
Thermometers
Where is the hot zone located?
It is located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
What are the three types of precipitation?
Rain, snow, and hail
Where do temperate zones extended from?
Extend from the tropics to the polar circles.
What are shooting stars?
Meteors that burn up in the mesosphere.
What do anemometers measure?
Wind speed
What zones are located in the polar circles?
Cold Zones
What is the difference between thunder and lightning?
Both happen during storms, however, thunder is in the form of a loud sound and lightning is in the form of a flash of light.
What is water vapour?
Water from the earth's surface that has evaporated from bodies of water because of heat.
What do we call the process in which gases in the atmosphere trap the sun's heat?
Greenhouse Effect
Name two devices that are used at a weather station.
thermometer, sunshine recorder, rain gauge, anemometers, weather vanes, or barometers.
What are isotherms?
These are lines on maps that connect parts of the world with the same average temperature.
What type of rainfall occurs when two different air masses meet?
frontal rainfall
What is atmospheric pressure?
It is the weight air exerts on the Earth's surface.