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39 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is the "Airpocalypse" in Beijing? |
- 1.2 million premature deaths each year - Most large cities exceed the "safe" standards for air pollution |
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What is the troposphere? |
- Bottommost layer - Breathing, weather - Temperature declines with altitude - Tropopause limits mixing between troposphere and the layer above it |
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What is the stratosphere? |
- Drier and less dense, little vertical mixing - Colder in its lower regions - UV radiation-blocking ozone |
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What is the mesosphere? |
- Extremely low air pressure - Temperature decreases with altitude |
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What is the thermosphere? |
- Atmosphere's top layer |
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What is atmospheric pressure? |
- Measures the force per unit area produced by a column of air |
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What is relative humidity? |
- The ratio of water vapor a given volume of air contains to the amount it could contain at a given temperature |
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What is a microclimate? |
- Different weather pattern on side of hill sheltered from wind or direct sunlight |
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Earth's axis is ___ % |
23.5% |
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What is the June solstice? |
- North hemisphere tilts towards Sun (summer for north) |
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What is the September/March equinox? |
- Equator faces the Sun directly (all hemispheres half and half) |
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What is the December solstice? |
- Northern hemisphere tilts away from Sun (winter for north) |
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What is convective circulation? |
- Less dense, warmer air rises and creates vertical currents - Rising air expands and cools - Cool air descends and becomes denser, replacing warm air |
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What is a front? |
- Boundary between air masses that differ in temperature, moisture, density |
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What is a warm front? |
- Boundary where warm moist air replaces colder, drier air |
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What is a cold front? |
- Boundary where colder, drier air displaces warmer moister air |
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What is a high pressure system? |
Air that moves away from a center of high pressure as it descends (fair weather) |
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What is a low pressure system? |
Air moves toward the low atmospheric pressure at the center of the system and spirals upward |
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What is thermal inversion? |
Layer of cool air occurs beneath a layer of warmer air |
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What is the inversion layer? |
The band of air in which temperature rises with altitude |
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What are Hadley cells? |
A pair of convective air currents near the equator where surface air warms, rises, and expands |
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What are Ferrel cells and polar cells? |
Convective cells that lift air and create precipitation at 60 degrees latitude north and south |
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What is the Coriolis effect? |
The north-south air currents of the convective cells appear to be deflected from a straight path |
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Where do doldrums occur? |
Near the equator (fewer winds) |
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Where do trade winds occur? |
Between the equator and 30 degrees latitude (blow from east to west) |
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Where do westerlies occur? |
From 30 to 60 degrees latitude (west to east) |
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What is the connection between British floods and California drought? |
- British floods could have caused califronia draught |
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Where do dust storms occur? |
Blown westward across the Atlantic ocean by trade winds (Africa to Americas) |
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What are point sources? |
Specific spots where large quantities of pollutants are discharged |
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What are nonpoint sources? |
More diffuse, consisting of many small sources |
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What are primary pollutants? |
Directly harmful and can react to form harmful substances |
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What are secondary pollutants? |
Form when primary pollutants interact or react with constituents or components of the atmosphere |
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What are the four categories of pollutants that are of greatest concern? |
- Criteria air contaminants - Persistent organic pollutants - Heavy metals - Toxic air pollutants |
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What are criteria pollutants? |
Pollutants judged to pose especially great threats to human health |
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What are scrubbers? |
Technologies that chemically convert or physically remove pollutants before they leave the smokestacks |
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What chemicals attack the ozone layer? |
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) |
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What is the 1987 Montreal protocol? |
197 nations agreed to cut CFC production in half - Production/use of ozone-depleting chemicals decreased 95% - Ozone layer beginning to recover |
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What are VOCs? |
Volatile organic compounds (released from plastics and oils) |
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What is sick building syndrome? |
A sickness produced by indoor pollution with general and nonspecific symptoms |
