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20 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Climate |
- Weather conditions averaged over a period of time |
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Weather |
- The state of the atmosphere; day to day variations in temperature, precipitation, and wind. |
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Meteorology |
- The study of weather (sky) |
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How does Climate change with Latitude? |
- Places located at high latitudes (far from the equator) receive less sunlight than places at low latitudes (close to the equator). - The amount of sunlight and the amount of precipitation affects the types of plants and animals that can live in a place |
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How does Elevation affect climate? |
- The higher the altitude the colder the temperature. - drop 4 degrees F every 1,000 ft. |
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How does Distance from the Coast affect climate? |
- The sea affects the climate of a place. - Coastal areas are cooler and wetter than inland areas. - Clouds form when warm air from inland areas meets cool air from the sea. - The center of continents are subject to a large range of temps. |
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Mediterranean Climate |
- A climate distinguished by warm, wet winters under prevailing westerly winds and calm, hot dry summers, as is characteristic of the mediterranean region and parts of CA, Chile, South Africa, and Southwestern Australia. |
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North Pacific (Hawaiian) High |
- A semi-permanent, subtropical anticyclone located in the northeastern portion of the Pacific Ocean, Located northeast of Hawaii and west of CA. - Strongest during the northern hemisphere summer and shifts towards the equator during the winder, when the Aleutian Low becomes more active. - Responsible for CA's dry summer and fall; wet winter and spring. |
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Aleutian (subpolar) Low |
- Semi-permanent low pressure center located near the Aleutian Islands during the winter. - One of the main centers of action in the atmospheric circulation of the Northern Hemisphere. - Characterized by many strong cyclones. |
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Orographic Precipitation |
- Produced when moist air is lifted as it moves over a mountain range. - As the air rises and cools, orographic clouds form and serve as the source of the precipitation, most of which falls upwind of the mountain ridge - Some of the precipitation falls a short distance downwind of the ridge and is sometimes called Spillover. - On the lee side of the Mountain Range, rainfall is usually low, and the area is said to be in a Rain Shadow. - Heavy Precipitation typically occurs upwind of a prominent mountain range oriented across prevailing wind from warm ocean. |
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Windward Slope |
- The direction upwind (toward where the wind is coming from) from the point of reference. |
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Leeward Slope |
- The direction downwind (or downward) from the point of reference. |
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Rain Shadow |
- A dry region of land on the side of the mountain range that is protected from the prevailing winds. - Prevailing winds are the winds that occur most of the time in a particular location on Earth. |
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California Current |
- A Pacific Ocean current that moves southward along the western coast of North America - One of 5 major coastal currents affiliated with upwelling zones. - Eastern Boundary Current - Large swirling current that occupies the northern basin of the Pacific. |
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Upwelling |
- An oceanographic phenomenon that involves wind-driven motion of dense, cooler, and usually nutrient-rich water towards the ocean surface, replacing the warmer, usually nutrient-depleted surface water. |
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Marine Layer |
- An air mass which develops over the surface of a large body of water such as the ocean or large lake in the presence of the Temp. Inversion. |
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Advection Fog |
- A type of fog that forms as cool and moist air moves over cooler surfaces. - surfaces can be either land or water, each cooler than the warm and more humid air moving horizontally above it. |
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Temperature Inversion |
- Condition in which the temperature of the atmosphere increases with altitude in contrast to the normal decrease with altitude. - When temp. inversion occurs, cold air underlies warmer air at higher altitudes. |
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Photochemical Smog |
- Major contributor to air pollution - Smog = smoke + fog - historically used to describe air pollution produced from the burning of coal, which released smoke and sulfur dioxide. |
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Stable Air |
- If a rising parcel of air is cooler than the surrounding atmosphere it will tend to sink back to it's original position. - this is because cool air is more dense or heavier than warmer air. |
