Earth's Energy
What is the definition of convection?
What special property does water have?
It is able to absorb a great amount of heat before its temperature rises.
What happens when the ocean and atmosphere work together?
It moves heat and fresh water across the globe.
What is the strong Atlantic current that brings warm water and mild climates from the Gulf of Mexico along the Florida coast?
The Gulf Stream
Name 3 factors that affect ocean currents.
rotating earth, the atmosphere, the ocean, continents, ice, energy, plants
What drives our weather?
The Sun
Where are large amount of solar energy stored?
Earth's oceans.
How do the ocean and atmosphere work together?
Wind-driven and ocean currents move warm water towards the poles and colder water toward the equator?
What is the strong Pacific current that moves cold water from the northern Pacific southward along the westcoast?
The California Current
How does the Earth's rotation affect weather and climate?
It causes ocean and atmospheric flows to curve when viewed from the rotating surface of the Earth.
The sun heats the Earth unequally while the Earth rotates, which creates air and water movement.
What creates a sea breeze?
Warm air over land rises while cooler air over ocean sinks, creating wind currents. Wind moves from high pressure areas to low pressure areas, so winds blow toward the coast.
What is the great ocean conveyor belt?
Movement of warm and cold ocean currents around the globe.
Hurricanes
What is the process of convection?
As warm air becomes less dense, it rises, helping distribute heat/. At higher altitudes, the molecules cool, become denser, and sink towards the surface.
What creates a land breeze?
At night, land cools faster and oceans. Therefore, warmer air above oceans rises while cool air above land sinks. Wind blow away from the coast.
What is thermohaline?
What happens during a Hurricane?
The rapid evaporation and rising of water pull air away from the surface of the ocean floor. This void of air leaves an area of low pressure underneath the mass of rising air and causes other air to be drawn into this low- pressure zone. The warm air rises too. This rising warm, moist air cools and condenses to form storm clouds.
What does convection create?
Wind
How are land and sea breezes different?
A sea breeze has cool ocean air sink and warm land air rise. Land breezes have warm ocean air rise and cool land air sink.
What is the thermohaline circulation?
A major deep ocean current that moves energy from the tropics to the poles.