Essentials of Geography
How many satellites does a GPS receiver need?
3
This is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere.
Nitrogen
This word describes radiation bending.
Refraction
This effect causes tropical storms to spin counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
Coriolis effect
This term describes energy that changes a substance's state of matter without affecting its temperature.
Latent heat
This term describes organisms of the same species living in the same place.
Population
What type of map projection is best for showing Antarctica?
Azimuthal
This component of the stratosphere protects the Earth from UV radiation.
Ozone layer
This word describes a surface's ability to reflect radiation.
Albedo
These hot, dry winds bring dangerous conditions to the American Southwest each year.
Santa Ana winds
This effect brings heavy snow to Michigan, Ohio, and New York.
Lake effect
This term describes organisms of different species living in the same place.
Community
What kind of feedback loop is stabilizing?
This word describes a tiny particle of liquid or solid suspended in the atmosphere.
Aerosol
This word describes radiation passing uninterrupted through air, water, or a transparent solid.
Transmission
Most of the Earth's hot deserts exist in this pressure zone.
Subtropical high
This term describes a "pocket" of air that may be stable or unstable.
Parcel
This term describes organisms that produce sugars from sunlight (or chemicals from ocean vents).
Producer
This geologic epoch began when the Ice Age ended 11,700 years ago.
Holocene
This is the lowest layer of the atmosphere.
Troposphere
This type of scattering makes the sky blue.
Rayleigh
This term describes cool air flowing downslope from a plateau.
Katabatic wind
This process involves snow forming in a cloud and turning to rain as it falls toward the Earth.
Bergeron process
This term describes microbes converting atmospheric nitrogen to forms plants can use.
Nitrogen fixation
Anthropocene
The Earth's axial tilt is ___ degrees.
23.5
This phenomenon is caused by layers of air at different temperatures bending light at different angles.
Mirage
This term describes a semi-permanent low-pressure system near either pole.
Polar vortex
This term describes a band of thunderstorms along a front.
Squall line
This principle says if two species occupy the exact same habitat with the exact same niche, one species will die out.
Competitive exclusion principle