Weather Patterns
Define insolation.
What is the solar energy that reaches a planet?
Define aerosols
What are solids such as dust, salt, pollen, and tiny liquid droplets like acids in the atmosphere?
Define relative humidity.
What is a measure of the amount of water vapor present compared to the amount that could be held at a specific temperature?
Define an adaptation.
What is any structure or behavior that helps an organism survive in its environment?
Define seasons.
What are short periods of climatic change caused by changes in the amount of solar radiation an area receives?
Define a weather map
What is a map that shows the weather in a specific area at a specific time
Percentage of Earth's surface that is water.
What is around 70%?
What is faster?
Name at least one example of a behavioral adaptation.
What is a climactic event involving the tropical Pacific ocean and atmosphere in which winds weaken and sometimes reverse direction along the South American coast.
Define lightning
What is the spark caused when electricity built up in a thunderhead discharges?
Name the layers of the atmosphere.
What are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, exosphere?
Middle clouds form between ___ meters and ___ meters up i the atmosphere.
What are 2,000 and 8,000 meters?
What is an inactive state where fish like lungfish burrow into mud and cover themselves in a mixture of mud and mucus.
Define sunspots
What are dark spots on the surface of the Sun?
Define storm surges
What are rapidly rising water levels as hurricane winds pass over coastal areas?
Height of the Troposphere
What is around 10 km up?
Define cirrus clouds.
What are wispy, high-level clouds?
What are mammal fur and thick & fleshy stems on cacti?
Define the greenhouse effect
What is a natural heating that occurs when certain gases in Earth's atmosphere trap heat?
How do clouds form?
water particles lose speed and come closer together as they're carried higher into the atmosphere and lose heat.
Describe the water cycle.
1. Evaporation - water evaporates from oceans, lakes, rivers, and plants into the atmosphere
2. water vapor cools and condenses back into water again while in the atmosphere, forming clouds
3. Droplets inside clouds keep joining together to form bigger drops until they become so heavy precipitation occurs
4. Rain accumulates into lakes, streams, and rivers, which flow to the ocean or get taken up by plants
What is an anemometer?
Adaptations develop in populations over a ___ (long?short) period of time.
Describe at least 2 ways to reduce your carbon footprint.
What are conserving home electricity, using alternatives to cars for travel, use solar panels, or plant vegetation?