Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
61 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
What are the conditions needed for a hurricane to form? |
1. Warm tropical ocean = 26.5* sea temp, 60m depth, 75% humidity 2. Trade wind belt = 5-20* 3. Small scale disturbance = are of low pressure over water |
|
|
How does a hurricane develop? (Once formed they move westwards due to E-W winds in the tropics) |
1. Area of low pressure along ITCZ where warm air drawn in spiralling manner (air from both hemispheres meet = uplift) 2. When ITCZ most distant from equator 3. Rapidly rising moist air cools & condenses = latent heat energy fuels storm |
|
|
What are hurricanes measured by? |
The Saffir Simpson Scale (5 levels) |
|
|
What are hurricane impacts? |
1. Wind = exceed 150km/h 2. Heavy rainfall = over 1000mm/day 3. Storm surges = 90% of deaths & salt water contamination 4. Tornados |
|
|
What are tornado characteristics? |
1. Rotating column of air in contact with ground and clouds 2. Wind speeds up to 480kph 3. Form when rotating air high in atmosphere gets turned on its side into a vertical column & dragged down by descending not air -happens in large storms |
|
|
How many tornadoes occur in the USA in 2007? |
Over 1000 |
|
|
When do anticyclones form? |
- Where air sinks = high pressure (stops air rising = no condensation) - its position is affected by jet streams (narrow currents of fast moving hair high in atmosphere) = when cut off from a jet stream it remains stationary for long periods = blocking anticyclones (block depressions) |
|
|
Where does the ITCZ move in July & January? |
July = moves north January = moves south |
|
|
Changes in atmospheric circulation = ITCZ stays closer to equator leading to.. |
A lot less rain during the tropical regions' rainy season = drought (can last for several years e.g. Sahel in 1960s-80s) |
|
|
Less clouds = ... |
Less solar radiation reflected back & more absorbed |
|
|
What does winter weather require? |
High latitude = above 40* as less solar radiation received
High altitudes = temperature decreases by 6-10* for every 1000m gained |
|
|
What's a blizzard? |
- winter storm w/ high winds and snowfall when low pressure systems form in winter - occur in higher lats of the temperate zones (40-60*) - e.g. Storm of the Century (USA 1993) on east coast w/ low temp & high winds from Canada & Cuba |
|
|
What does winter weather require? |
High latitude = above 40* as less solar radiation received
High altitudes = temperature decreases by 6-10* for every 1000m gained |
|
|
What's a blizzard? |
- winter storm w/ high winds and snowfall when low pressure systems form in winter - occur in higher lats of the temperate zones (40-60*) - e.g. Storm of the Century (USA 1993) on east coast w/ low temp & high winds from Canada & Cuba |
|
|
What's an ice storm? |
- surfaces covered in ice - when rainfall (from a storm) passes through a layer of cold air & freezes as if hits surfaces - e.g. The Great Ice Storm (1998, USA) as warm moist air from Gulf of Mexico rose above cold air trapped at ground level |
|
|
Weather diary during passing depression Part 1.. |
1. Pre- warm front = temp increase, drizzly rain, pressure fall, wind speed increase & direction starts to turn 2. Warm front passes = temp increase, heavier rain, pressure falls, stronger winds & turn direction 3. Warm mass = steady temp, light/no rain, steady pressure, wind speed decrease & lil turn |
|
|
Weather diary during passing depression Part 1.. |
1. Pre- warm front = temp increase, drizzly rain, pressure fall, wind speed increase & direction starts to turn 2. Warm front passes = temp increase, heavier rain, pressure falls, stronger winds & turn direction 3. Warm mass = steady temp, light/no rain, steady pressure, wind speed decrease & lil turn |
|
|
Weather diary during depression Part 2... |
4. Cold front passes = sudden temp drop, heavy rain/storm, sudden pressure increase, wind increases to gale force & turns direction sharply 5. Cold mass = remains cold, rain shower, pressure increase, wind speed gradually falls |
|
|
Weather diary during passing depression Part 1.. |
1. Pre-warm front = temp increase, drizzly rain, pressure fall, wind speed increase & direction starts to turn 2. Warm front passes = temp increase, heavier rain, pressure falls, stronger winds & turn direction 3. Warm mass = steady temp, light/no rain, steady pressure, wind speed decrease & lil turn |
|
|
What did I measure for my weather diary experiment? |
1. Temp (min & max thermom) 2. Rainfall (funnel on spike) 3. Windspeed (anemometer in knots or Beaufort scale) 4. Wind direction (wind vane) 5. Atmospheric pressure (aneroid barometer or Internet) 6. Cloud amount (eyes - 8 oktas) 7. Cloud type (camera) |
|
|
What did I measure for my weather diary experiment? |
1. Temp (min & max thermom) 2. Rainfall (funnel on spike) 3. Windspeed (anemometer in knots or Beaufort scale) 4. Wind direction (wind vane) 5. Atmospheric pressure (aneroid barometer or Internet) 6. Cloud amount (eyes - 8 oktas) 7. Cloud type (camera) |
|
|
What's the pressure of an anticyclones & a depression? |
Anticyclone = 1060mb (synoptic map shows increasing pressure towards centre & lines far apart)
Dépression = 890mb (synoptic chart shows decreasing pressure towards centre & lines close together) |
|
|
What scale measures tornadoes? |
The Fujita Scale (F0-F5) & subjective |
|
|
Tornado Oklahoma (1999) |
-F5 - 41 dead - $bn |
|
|
Tornado Birmingham (2005) |
- F2 - 19 injured - £40mn |
|
|
Hurricane Mitch (1998) Honduras & Nicaragua |
- cat 5 - over 11,000 dead -$6bn |
|
|
Hurrican Wilma (2005) Mexico, Cuba & Florida |
- cat 5 - 63 dead - $29bn |
|
|
The MDB |
- covers 14% of OZ land area (Queensland to S. OZ) - provides 40% of agri. produce - 55,000 farmers - provides water for 60% of OZ's wine grape production - home to 2mn - drought in El Niño |
|
|
The MDB |
- covers 14% of OZ land area (Queensland to S. OZ) - provides 40% of agri. produce - 55,000 farmers - provides water for 60% of OZ's wine grape production - home to 2mn - drought in El Niño |
|
|
The Big Dry (2002-2012) esp. 2007 - Agricultural Impacts |
1. Irrigation to farms cut - for human & livestock consumption 2. Rice production fell to 2% of pre-drought totals 3. Harvests decimated 4. Annual crops not planted 5. Abandoned farms (unemployment 7% above nat average) |
|
|
Social impacts part 1 |
1. NSW communities desolate (people leave services close) 2. Less food grown = increase imports & increase prices 3. Prices of energy & water soared (up to 20% by 2008) 4. Reduced HEP -Vic & Tasmania 5. Over 23,000 families & 1500 businesses receive income support (drought assistance programme) |
|
|
Social impacts part 2 |
1. 3m people relying on MDB = allocation reduced (4 min showers) 2. 10,000 families forced to leave in last 5 years 3. Increasing groundwater salinity in over 35 towns 4. Gov spent $10mn on mental health workshops |
|
|
Environmental impacts |
1. Vegetation loss & soil erosion 2. Increase wildfires & dust storms 3. Toxic algae breakout in depleted rivers, dams & lakes = threatens habitats (e.g. Endangered Purple Spotted Gudgeon) 4. Snowy HEP scheme forced to rely on old polluting gas statn |
|
|
Severity of NSW drought |
- Worst on record (rainfall June 2008 lowest in 117 years) - long period = years to refill MDB |
|
|
Main threats of Hurricane (Hurricane Katrina |
1. RAIN - Florida had 380mm 2. WIND - over 160km/h in N.O 3. STORM SURGES - 8.5m in N.O |
|
|
Why NOLA suffered - LOCATION |
1. Below sea level 2. Mississippi runs through middle 3. Perched underneath lake X2 size of city 4. Gulf of Mexico (E&S) = threats of coastal storms |
|
|
Why NOLA suffered - LEVEES & FLOODWALLS |
1. Levees built to withstand Cat 3 & storm surges 3-4m 2. HK was Cat 5 & initial storm surge from SE overwhelmed flood walls 3. Levees holding storm surge from lake Ponchartrain failed (poor design/construction) 4. Could have save up to 2/3 deaths |
|
|
Why NOLA suffered - DISAPPEARING WETLANDS |
1. Mississippi delta flooded regularly by river but widespread building of levees etc (gas/oil extraction) along delta speeded up subsidence 2. Disappearing at rate of 25 miles a year 3. in just 2 days HK & Rita turned another 218sq/miles to marsh water 4. Bad as could absorb storm surge energy |
|
|
Why NOLA suffered - GLOBAL WARMING |
1. Hurricanes more intense as rising sea temp 2. But hurricane activity fluctuates (and only monitored since 70s) |
|
|
Hurricane Katrina - the Event |
- hit coast of Louisiana 6:10am, 29th August 2005 - 3rd strongest hurricane ever to make landfall on USA |
|
|
Hurricane Katrina - the Event |
- hit coast of Louisiana 6:10am, 29th August 2005 - 3rd strongest hurricane ever to make landfall on USA |
|
|
Hurricane Katrina Impacts - INFRASTRUCTURE |
1. Telephones, mobiles, Internet and local TV stations disrupted 2. Most major roads damaged 3. Levees breached - by 31st, 80% of NOLA underwater 4. 1.7mn lost electricity across Mississippi & Louisiana |
|
|
Hurricane Katrina Impacts - ECONOMIC |
1. Nearly all unemployed = no $ spent, paid or collected for taxes 2. Cost of repair = $10.5bn 3. Total cost = $150bn 4. Oil & gas production (refinery in Gulf of Mexico) reduced = increase imports = 10 days after prices back to 42% of normal 5. 10% of all jobs in forestry (forests destroyed |
|
|
Hurricane Katrina Impacts - ECONOMIC |
1. Nearly all unemployed = no $ spent, paid or collected for taxes 2. Cost of repair = $10.5bn 3. Total cost = $150bn 4. Oil & gas production (refinery in Gulf of Mexico) reduced = increase imports = 10 days after prices back to 42% of normal 5. 10% of all jobs in forestry (forests destroyed |
|
|
Hurricane Katrina Impacts - SOCIAL |
1. Death toll = 1836 (700 missing still) 2. Residents evacuated on 28th (80% left & 20% remained as no money to leave - esp. Poor black = air lifted days later) 3. 300,000 homes destroyed 4. In a hospital, no. of patients treated rose by 83.6% |
|
|
Every 1* rise in sea surface temperature means hurricane rainfall & windspeed is increased by... |
Rainfall = 6-18% Wind speed = 8% |
|
|
3 types of drought... |
1. Meteorological (less than avg rainfall) 2. Agricultural (insufficient moisture for crop = exploited soil) 3. Hydrologic (reserves fall below statistical avg = over abstraction) |
|
|
The 5 air masses that affect the British Isles |
1. PM (Arctic Sea) = wet & cold showers 2. AM (Arctic) = wet & snow in winter 3. PC (Central Europe) = hot dry summers & snowy winter 4. TC (N Africa) = hot dry summers 5. TM (Atlantic) = warm, moist, cloudy, rain & mild |
|
|
Which 2 of these masses, when they meet at the polar front, cause a depression? |
PM and TM |
|
|
Tewkesbury Flood 20th-21st July 2007 |
- 150mm in 2 days over Gloucestershire & Worcestershire - following an already wet period (ground saturated) -Tewkesbury lies where River Avon & Severn meet - also by tributaries Swilgate & Carrant Brooks |
|
|
Immediate impact of Tewkesbury flood |
- by 20th July was cut off (60-80 slept in abbey = community) - all 4 access roads flooded (e.g. A38) - 1 man died - car swept away - Mythe Water Treatment plant closed - 140,000 left without water for a week = Lorry bottles |
|
|
Economic impacts of the floodinf |
- many displaced - by December 2000 still lived in caravans - most businesses not renovated by Xmas = miss out on Xmas trade (one lost £80,000) - a farm lost 400,000 acres - by December = 165,000 insurance claims - bill for damage over £33bn |
|
|
Economic impacts of the flooding |
- many displaced - by December 2000 still lived in caravans - most businesses not renovated by Xmas = miss out on Xmas trade (one lost £80,000) - a farm lost 400,000 acres - by December = 165,000 insurance claims - bill for damage over £33bn |
|
|
Social impacts |
- sense of community - abbey opened up doors for caravan kids - Christmas lights via donations - insomnia |
|
|
Social impacts |
- sense of community - abbey opened up doors for caravan kids - Christmas lights via donations - insomnia |
|
|
Environmental |
1. 700% increase of building on planes 2. EA began programme of digging out streams & removing bridges to drain water faster 3. Water treatment plant now protected by new steel wall |
|
|
Met office supercomputers means accuracy of forecasting increased in accuracy from... |
1980 - 79% 1996 - 86% |
|
|
In 1980s and 90s NOAA replace conventional weather radars with radars that can... |
Measure the speed, position & intensity of precipitation particles & wind patterns that can cause tornadoes |
|
|
In 1980s and 90s NOAA replace conventional weather radars with radars that can... |
Measure the speed, position & intensity of precipitation particles & wind patterns that can cause tornadoes |
|
|
Communication support trucks can stay in contact with... |
Weather forecasters |
|
|
GIS & GPS = overlay maps and is used by |
FEMA |
