Meteorology Final (Chapters 8 - 15)
the first major documented air pollution disaster in the US occurred in ____.
Donora,Pennsylvania, in October 1948
the twinkling effect that is seen when observing stars in the night sky is known as ___.
Scintillation
____ is a common term used to describe wet deposition of acidic pollution.
acid precipitation
____ are airborne substances, either solids, liquids or gases, that occur in concentrations high enough to threaten the health of people and animals.
air pollutants
_____ was developed by the EPA to indicate the air quality in a particular region.
air quality index (AQI)
Typical cloud droplets are large enough to effectively scatter ___ wavelengths of visible radiation more or less equally.
all
Humid subtropical climates are found principally _____ of continents, roughly between 25° and 40° latitude.
along the east coasts
The Maunder minimum refers to _____.
an apparent lack of sunspots in the 17th century
the urban heat island is strongest _______.
at night
light winds and poor vertical mixing can produce a condition known as ____.
atmospheric stagnation
_____ refers to an increase in global surface air temperature that can cause snow and ice to melt in polar latitudes.
d. Snow-albedo feedback
Precipitation in a ____ climate is both meager and irregular.
desert
Overgrazing and the excessive cultivation of grasslands may cause __________by changing the albedo of the Earth's surface.
desertifiication
the bending of light as it asses around objects is called _____.
diffraction
Strong winds tend to lower the concentration of pollutants by spreading them apart as they move downwind, this process of spreading is called _____.
dispersion
True deserts are found in the _______ climate group.
dry
A change in the amount of solar radiation that reaches Earth due to changes in the shape of Earth's orbit about the sun is called _____.
eccentricity
on average more people die from ___ during heat waves than from any other extreme weather event.
excessive heat
The rise in sea level will depend on how much the temperature rises and on how quickly the ice in _____ melts.
greenland and antarctica
A wide tree ring would represent ______conditions for growth.
growing
____ is a ring of light encircling and extending outward from the sun or moon.
halo
research of urban environments has shown that precipitation amounts were ____.
higher in the cities than in the surrounding countryside
_____ climates often show a great deal of variation in temperature, precipitation, and vegetation over a relatively short vertical change in elevation.
highland climates
Pillars may form as sunlight reflects off hexagonal pencil-shaped ice crystals that fall with their long axes oriented ___.
horizontally to the ground
The ______ climate group have monthly cold averages below 27°F with severe winter storms.
humid middle latitude
A trademark of the________ climate is its hot, muggy summers.
humid subtropical
The general characteristics of moist subtropical mid-latitude climates are _____.
humid with mild winters
At which location below would you most expect to find a year-round desert?
in the frigid polar regions
the urban heat island is caused by ____.
industrial and urban development
The warmer periods between glacial advances are called _____.
interglacial
when various sizes of droplets exist within a cloud, the corona becomes distorted and irregular exhibing patches of pastel shakes of pinks, blue or green called ___.
iridescence
_______ heat up and cool of more quickly than bodies of water, which causes greater temperature differences in interior continental climates.
land
Moist continental climates are controlled by _____.
large continent
refraction can be demonstrated in a darkened room by shining a ___ into a beaker of water.
light
___ are bright areas produced by diffraction.
light waves/source
in an attempt to reduce acidity from acid rain, ____ is being poured into some lakes.
lime
when the atmosphere becomes loaded with particles, only the ____ wavelengths are able to penetrate the atmosphere.
longest red
Light that travels from a less-dense to a more-dense medium ___.
loses speed and bends toward the normal
During much of the year, marine climates are characterized by_____.
low clouds, fog, and drizzle
_____ refers to the climate of a small area of the Earth's surface such as a forests, valley, or town.
mesoclimate
_____ refers to the climate very near the ground in a small zone, sometimes as small as a few square feet,where the surface properties are consistent, such as a city park or forest clearing.
microclimate
In the atmosphere, when an object appears to be displaced from its true position, this phenomenon is called a ____.
mirage
in the atmosphere, when an object appears to be displaced from its true position, we call this phenomenon a ____.
mirage
_______ mechanisms are those that tend to weaken interactions among the climatic variables rather than reinforce them.
negative feedback mechanism
Most of the "rainiest" places in the world are located _____.
on the windward side of mountains
the main component of photochemical smog is the gas _____.
ozone
the very earliest accounts of air pollution characterized the phenomenon as "smoke problems" mainly caused by _____.
people burning wood and coal to keep warm
The _____ explains the mechanisms of the slow shifting of continents and ocean floors.
plate tectonics
Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases capable of disturbing the radiative equilibrium are referred to as _____.
radiative forcing agents
___ occur when rain is falling in one part of the sky while the sun is shining in another.
rainbow
When sunlight bounces off a surface at the same angle at which it strikes the surface, we say that the light is ___
reflection
sun pillars are caused by the ___ of sunlight of ice crystals.
reflection
The hottest places on Earth are generally found in the subtropical ______of the Northern Hemisphere.
region?
Antenna-like nerve endings in the retina, called ___, respond to all wavelengths of visible light and gives us the ability to distinguish light from dark.
rods
the larger rainbow with its colors reversed and seen above the primary rainbow is called a ______.
secondary rainbow
___ are commonly associated with major air pollution episodes.
subsidence inversion
Volcanic eruptions rich in _____ tend to cool the air at Earth's surface.
sulfur gases
___ are caused by reflection of sunlight off ice crystals and occur most often at sunrise or sunset.
sun pillars
A(n) ___ occurs when observed objects appear to be shifted upward from their actual location.
superior mirage
Where _____ the coast, upwelling of cold water helps keep the water itself and the air above it cool all summer long.
surface winds are parallel to
Variations in _____ between summer and winter will be far greater over continental interiors than along the west coastal margins of continents.
temperature
clean air standards are established by____.
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Dendrochronology is the study of _____ that can be used to deduce past climate changes.
the annual growth rings of trees
Bright, yellow-orange sunsets only occur when the atmosphere ___.
the atmosphere is fairly clean
The majority of human-produced sulfate particles in the lower atmosphere come primarily from _____.
the combustion of sulfur-containing fossil fuels
The majority of human-produced sulfate particles in the lower atmosphere come primarily from ______.
the combustion of sulfur-containing fossil fuels
The coldest areas in the Northern Hemisphere are found in _____.
the interior of Siberia and Greenland
the region of relatively unstable air that extends from the surface to the base of an inversion is referred to as ___.
the mixing layer
the primary source for all pollutants is ___.
transportation
The ______climate type has all months with average temperatures above 64°.
tropical
Rich laterite soils are typically found in the______ climate group.
tropical and subtropical regions
Tropical wet regions, where the monthly precipitation totals drop below 6 cm for perhaps one or two months, are known as _____.
tropical monsoon climates
Within the _____ climate, seasonal temperature variations are small.
tropical wet
___ is the name given to the time after sunset when the sky remains illuminated allowing outdoor activities to continue without artificial lighting.
twilight
______ eruptions can have a major impact on climate by releasing fine particles of ash and dust.
volcanoes
Evidence suggests that throughout much of Earth's history, it's climate was _______ than it is today.
warmer
______are plants capable of surviving prolonged periods of drought and found in dry climates.
xerophytes
The ______ Theory ascribed climatic changes to variations in Earth's orbit.
Milankovitch theory
_____ was considered to be the "Year without a summer"and caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora.
1816
the original clean air act was enacted in ____.
1963
the most common type of halo is the ____ halo.
22 percent halo
In the polar tundra, the average temperature of the warmest month is below _____.
50
the average lifetime of a CFC molecule is between _____ and ___ years.
50 and 100 years
The_________ was adopted in 1997 and set mandatory targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in countries that adopted the plan.
Kyoto Protocol
The natural "external" cause of climate change that changes the amount of solar radiation reaches the Earth is _____.
Milankovitch theory
________ erupted in 1991 releasing huge amounts of sulfur rich ash and gases, which and helped reduce the world's temperature by 0.5°C by early 1992.
Mount Pinatubo
____ represents a group of solid particles and liquid droplets that are small enough to remain suspended in the air.
Particulate matter (PM)
Another name for Los Angles-type smog is ____.
Photochemical smog
The _____ was the most recent of the major glacial periods.
Pleistocene
one main problem with particulate pollution is that it _____.
can remain in the atmosphere for weeks
___ is a major pollutant of city air, and is a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas that forms during the incomplete combustion of carbon-containing fuels.
carbon monoxide
____ is a major pollutant of city airl it is a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas that forms during the incomplete combustion of carbon-containing fuels.
carbon monoxide
Because of the dry summers of Mediterranean climates, the land only supports growing _____.
chaparral
Airborne particles near Earth's surface tend to _____.
cool the surface
Scattered light from a rising or setting sun appear as bright light beams known as ___.
crepuscular rays
___ are bright light beams produced by haze scattering light from a rising or setting sun.
crepuscular rays
the angle at which light strikes the backside of a raindrop such that it is reflected within the drop is called the ___ angle.
critical