GEOG 325 2023 with complete solution questions and answers

Tropic of Cancer 23.5 north of the equator Tropic of Capricorn 23.5 south of the equator Gulf stream an ocean current that flows northward along much of the eastern coast of North America, brings warm waters to their shores Heat island the tendency for urban areas to be about 5 degrees warmer than rural areas. Cars, lack of plants, and asphalt are to blame Microclimates small areas with climates that differ from their surroundings Troposphere layer forming the lowest six miles or so of the atmosphere Stratosphere above the troposphere, extends from about 6 miles to 30 miles above the surface Greenhouse gases CO2 and water vapor, are very good at absorbing infrared radiation, which warms them up Cloudy nights are warmer than clear ones because the water droplets and ice in clouds, along with the humid air in and around them, helps slow down the loss of warmth from the ground Convection the earth surface, which is warmed by the sun, warms the air above it. The warm air rises upward into the cooler regions of the troposphere, and cooler air from above sinks to the surface to replace the rising air Sea breeze breeze that brings wind that flows from the sea to the land, brings cool air from the Pacific ocean west of the museum and blows it across the bay toward the warm inland valleys in the east Expansion cooling when air rises in the atmosphere, it expands by pushing away the surrounding air. This takes energy from the air, which causes its temperature to drop. So ascending air cools down by what's called expansion cooling Compression warming when air descends, the surrounding air compresses it, giving energy to the descending air Low pressure area when warm area rises, it leaves behind an area where there are fewer air molecules per cubic feet High pressure area cooling influence of the water creates an area where there are more air molecules per cubic foot Pressure gradient the change in pressure between two points, divided by the distance between them Thermal updrafts as warm air rises up from the mountain, its replaced by cooler air from the valley, creating a breeze that blows up the mountain Land breeze are reverse winds that develop because the land cools off much faster than the water. Upslope winds when horizontal winds run into the mountains, they're forced uphill by the land and by the air following behind Clear air turbulence planes flying above the Rockies often run into these invisible swirling winds, Upper tropospheric westerlies Warm air rises in the tropics and flows at high altitude toward the poles. Because of the earth's spin, these high winds don't go directly to the Poles but curve off to the east Hadley Circulation air blows towards the equator, upward near the equator, toward the poles at the top of the troposphere, and downward at about 30 degrees north or south latitude Jet streams some of the strongest of all winds, rivers of swift0moving air that flow at the top of the troposphere, between about 25,000 and 45,000 feet Electromagnetic radiation it is a wave of fluctuating electric and magnetic fields in space, Maunder Minimum absence of observed sunspots between 1645 and 1710 Little ice age cooler period of climate during the 17th to 19th centuries Anthropogenic Greenhouse effect the portion of the warming caused by human activities Thermohaline Circulation global-scale over-turning of the ocean driven by density differences arising from temperature and salinity effects. One of the best known examples of thermohaline circulation is the Gulf Stream, a river or warmer, fresher, surface water that flows to the North Atlantic, where it gives up its heat and sinks, making much of Western Europe considerably warmer than it would be otherwise Cryosphere All frozen aspects of the planet Thermal expansion as water warms it expands- and as the oceans are heated by global warming, such thermal expansion alone is expected to cause significant sea-level rise Clathrates two parts of the cryosphere that get much less media attention - and therefore much less public awareness - than the ice sheets are the vast expanses of permafrost in northern latitudes and the huge deposits of methane locked up in an icy, slushy form called hydrates or _____ Milankovitch hypothesis regular wobbles and tilts in the Earth's axis of spin, and stretches in its orbit, cause changes in how warm the earth is Radiative forcing a way to measure the energy balance of the Earth-atmosphere system - particularly how it changes when factors that affect climate are altered Forcing term to refer to a climate factor that is pushing the Earth's radiative balance away from its previous state Internal Variability another factor that can change a climate. Cannot have a long-term impact on the climate, because it is not adding energy into the system Aerosols airborne particles Noise variation in global mean temperature from year to year is, indeed, natural, unexplained, unpredictable, and random. Non-linear sometimes used to describe systems that are unstable, meaning that there is no simple proportional relation between cause and effect or that small changes in initial conditions can lead to much larger changes in the final outcome Methane greenhouse gas produced by bacteria in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic) Enteric fermentation methane from animals Nitrogen Fixation plants covert nitrogen into chemicals they can use like NH3 and NO3 Denitrification microorganisms are constantly taking nitrogen out of its fixed form in the soil and putting it back into the atmosphere Halocarbons these compounds combine carbon with one or more of the five elements: fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine. An increase of 1% of earth's albedo would... lower the mean temperature by about 3.1 degrees All x-rays and gamma-rays and some ultraviolet light is absorbed by... oxygen More ultraviolet is absorbed by... stratospheric ozone Insolation amount of radiation that strikes a surface Conduction point to point transfer of energy. Each condition (water, ice, water vapor) requires the addition or release of energy Condensation Nuclei Water vapor does not condense, unless it has something to wrap around Advection transfer of energy horizontally from places that have too much --- places that have less Patterns of insolation depends on altitude, ocean air, albedo, etc. Continentality the further you are from the influence of the son, the higher your summer temperatures and lower winter temperatures Isotherms lines that represent an areas average temp of a graph Annual Range the difference between temperature Horizontal Change change in temperature from a location on earth to another Vertical Change typical change in temperature with altitude Tropopause top of troposphere, temperature begins to warm with height in stratosphere Temperature Inversions when warm air is above cool air Halocarbons group of industrial compounds, most created after WW2 CFC's Chlorine and Fluerocarbons Halons Bromine and Fluorocarbons Antarctica Destruction up to 80% of ozone removed on seasonal basis Dobson Unit measures the amount of density in an ozone layer Spring & Summer Antarctica vortex changes slope and moves north Montreal Protocol call for less use of harmful chemicals Climate long term patterns Weather day to day phenomenon Electromagnetic Spectrum all of the wavelengths together Solar radiation short wave energy Radiative Gases gases that can absorb solar radiation Contrails the trail that planes leave behind Desertification slow depletion of soil's nutrients on land Monsoon wind shift. Wet is in summer and dry is in winter Isohyet Line on a map with equal precipitation Turbidity measure of particulate and liquid contaminants called Aerosols Condensation invisible water vapor (gas) needs some substance to condense on to change to a liquid Condensation Nuclei Examples salt, dust, and biotic/biogenic (organic) particles Hydroscopic particles that draw water vapor to them Teleconnectivity one change in the atmosphere somewhere can travel and be connected to other changes somewhere else Isobar shows similarities of pressure across lands