Vocabular
The study of weather
What is meteorology?
Every 2-7 years the surface waters of the eastern Pacific ocean are warmer than normal during December-February. Since it happens around Christmas-time it was given this name that means "the child"
What is El Niño? (or El Niño Southern Oscillation or ENSO)
This front is symbolized by red semicircles
What is a warm front?
This is the percent of oxygen in the atmosphere (Also called "room air")
The gentle sloping underwater plain
What is the continental shelf?
Water molecules stick to dust in the sky. Other water molecules continue to pile on top of each other to form droplets.
What is condensation?
White puffy clouds with flattened bottoms
What are cumulus clouds?
A force exerted onto a surface by the weight of air molecules
What is air pressure?
The opposite pattern of El Niño, this surface waters of the eastern Pacific are cooler than normal.
What is La Niña?
This front is represented by blue triangles
What is a cold front?
The layer of the atmosphere that we live in
What is the troposphere?
The regular and predictable pattern of ocean water movement as a result of the moon
What are tides?
When enough water molecules get together in the sky, they become too heavy to remain there and fall to the ground.
What is precipitation?
From the Latin word meaning layer, these clouds look like layers
What are stratus?
Moisture falling from the atmosphere
What is precipitation?
Due to the Coriolis effect, tornados, hurricanes, and sink drains rotate in this direction in the Northern Hemisphere.
What is COUNTER clockwise?
This type of front acts like a wedge, pushing warm air up quickly (and sometimes violently)
What is a cold front?
This is the layer of the atmosphere when auroras occur
What is the thermosphere?
Massive waves due to underwater earthquakes or volcanic explosions
What are tsumamis?
The gaseous state of water is called this.
What is water vapor?
From the Latin word meaning "curl" these are feathery, wispy clouds
What are Cirrus clouds?
A measure of water vapor in the air
What is humidity?
The middle of a hurricane is called the eye. It has a draft of air that goes in this direction.
What is a downdraft?
This type of front rises above the front next to it, allowing the air it carries to gently condense. This type of front brings steady precipitation.
What is a warm front?
The last layer of the atmosphere--where we are basically transitioning to "outer space"
What is the exosphere?
Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus is also known as this
What is SCUBA?
The process by which liquid water becomes gaseous water
What is evaporation?
When air moves along the ground and travels up the side of a mountain, these clouds are formed
What are mountain clouds?
The effect of the atmosphere on global temperatures.
What is the greenhouse effect?
The middle of a tornado has a draft that goes in this direction
What is an updraft?
Fast, upward moving air can cause a ice particles to form and a build up of static electricity which results in this
What is lightning?
This is in between the thermosphere and the mesosphere
What is the mesopause?
These are dangers of going too deep in the ocean (name at least two)
What is extreme temperatures, absolute darkness, massive water pressure, etc?
Condensation that gathers together visibly forms this
What is a cloud?
What is "having excess moisture"?