Ch. 6: The Atmosphere & the Oceans

A hurricane is a _______, intense, atmospheric storm that is born over ______.

large; tropical oceans

The speed of Earth's rotation changes with ______.

latitude and is greatest at the equator

La Niña events occur when ______.

ocean surface temperatures drop below normal off the coast of Peru

The Southern Oscillation is the ______.

periodic reversal of high- and low-pressure systems on either side of the tropical Pacific Ocean

We understand the movement of Earth's wind patterns by studying a model of Earth completely covered in water. The real Earth has an ______ which displaces the wind bands in the previous model.

uneven distribution of land and water

The upwelling of cold water off the coast of Peru is blocked during the Southern Oscillation by a pool of ______ water that moves eastward from the western equatorial Pacific.

warm

The upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water off the coast of Peru (South America) is weakened or shut down during the Southern Oscillation because ______.

warm surface waters are pushed across the Pacific and are pushed up against the coast

Clouds can ______ Earth by absorbing long-wave radiation from Earth's surface and help ______ Earth by reflecting short-wave radiation from the Sun.

warm; cool

A convection cell is one in which air is ______.

warmed at one location and cooled at another

Rank the latitudes below in terms of their speed of rotation. Place the latitude with the slowest rotation at the top.

1. 85 degrees N latitude 2. 60 degrees S latitude 3. 25 degrees N latitude 4. 5 degrees S latitude

Rank the following variable gases in terms of their relative volume amounts in the atmosphere. Place the most common gas at the top.

1. Water vapor 2. Carbon dioxide 3. Methane 4. Nitrous oxide

Each hemisphere of Earth has ______ convection cells. These cells each cover about 30 degrees of latitude with air rising at the equator and at ______ degrees latitude and sinking at the poles and at 30 degrees of latitude.

3; 60

Select ways that Earth and its atmosphere gain heat.

Absorption by clouds Absorption by dust in the atmosphere Absorption by water and land

Over the course of a year, more heat is lost than is gained at ______.

higher latitudes

Moving air and water masses appear to be deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere. This apparent deflection is called the ______.

Coriolis effect

A plane flying directly north in the sky will appear to be following a curved path with respect to the ground because ______.

Earth (the reference frame) beneath the plane is rotating

The anomalous climatic conditions that occur on average every three to seven years and last for about a year in the tropical Pacific are called ______.

El Niño events

True or false: The weather-related effects of ENSO events are limited to the Southern Hemisphere, where the pressure systems reverse.

False Reason: Weather-related effects are felt across both the United States and Canada.

Identify the two key components of the greenhouse effect.

Greenhouse gases allow incoming short-wave radiation to pass through. Greenhouse gases absorb some of the outgoing longer-wave radiation from Earth.

Select all the atmospheric layers below in which air temperature drops with increasing altitude.

Mesosphere Troposphere

Select all thterm-7e sources of heat losses listed below in Earth's heat budget.

Net surface emission of long-wave radiation Backscatter in the air Reflection by clouds

In regard to wind band modification, what factors require consideration when moving from the rotating, water-covered model of Earth to the real Earth? (Select all that apply.)

Seasonal changes in Earth's surface temperature The difference in heat capacity of land and water The addition of large continental land blocks

Identify the factors below that are important in the formation of hurricanes (typhoons). (Choose all that apply.)

The heat liberated as water vapor condenses The Coriolis effect Ocean surface temperatures greater than 27.8°C (82°F)

Westerlies

The surface winds between 30 and 60 degrees latitude

Polar easterlies

The surface winds between 60 and 90 degrees latitude

Trade winds

The surface winds between the equator and 30 degrees latitude

If we assume that the incoming short-wave solar radiation is the only source of energy available to heat Earth's surface and that there are 100 units of energy entering the atmosphere, then Earth's heat budget most closely matches which of the following choices?

Thirty units are backscattered, 70 units are gained, and later 70 units are lost back to space.

True or false: The processes that lead to the absorption and loss of heat from Earth vary with time.

True

Identify the general weather patterns that result from ENSO events. (Select all that apply.)

Wetter-than-normal rainfall in the eastern United States and in normally dry regions of Peru Warmer-than-normal winters in the northern United States and Canada

During an El Niño, the surface pressure in Indonesia is unusually ______ and reciprocally, is unusually _____ in the central Pacific.

high; low

A rain shadow can form on the leeward (sheltered) side of mountains because the ______.

air drops its moisture on the windward side as the air moves up over the mountains and cools and loses precipitation in the process

Heating of the air over the land in India's summers causes the formation of a low-pressure system. This low-pressure system pulls in moist warm air off the ocean. This results in monsoons ______.

as the warm moist air cools as it rises and releases the moisture as heavy rains

In addition to terrestrial ecosystems, the two active reservoirs of carbon dioxide are the _______ and the _______.

atmosphere; oceans

Since the Industrial Revolution, there has been an increase in the levels of ______ in the atmosphere.

carbon dioxide

The annual growth and decay of plant material accounts for a large portion of the annual variation in ______ levels in the atmosphere.

carbon dioxide

The human-induced destruction of ozone occurs when chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) break down in the atmosphere as they are stuck by ultraviolet radiation. The released ______ leads to the breakdown of ozone.

chlorine

The doldrums are located near the equator, and the horse latitudes are located at 30 degrees north and south latitude. The main difference in the atmospheric conditions is the horse latitudes are areas of ______ pressure.

descending air, resulting in high pressure, and the doldrums result from rising air leading to low

The annual variation in the amount of solar radiation received varies with latitude because the ______.

direction of Earth's tilt changes with respect to the Sun during the year

Winds are named based on the ______.

direction the wind is coming from

Free floating sea ice is called _______ ice; continuous sea ice is called ______ ice; and sea ice anchored to a landmass is called ______ ice.

drift; pack; fast

Monsoons form over the west coast of India ______.

during the summer when a low-pressure system forms over the land, pulling in warm moist air from the ocean

The long-term heat budget of Earth shows that the amount of heat gained is ______ the amount of heat lost to space.

equal to

An ice floe is a ______.

floating chunk of ice with a diameter of less than 10 kilometers

Pancake ice that comes together to form floating chunks of ice less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) in diameter are called ice ______.

floes

The atmosphere is primarily heated ______.

from below as Earth radiates heat upward Reason: Greenhouse gases allow incoming solar radiation to pass through but absorb the long-wave radiation coming up from Earth's surface.

Carbon dioxide allows incoming long-wave solar radiation to pass downward but traps some of the longer-wave infrared radiation given off by Earth. This allows Earth to be warmer than it otherwise would be and is called the _______ effect.

greenhouse

Massive, irregularly shaped sea ice masses that are formed by glaciers breaking apart are called _______.

icebergs

The amount of long-wave heat radiation retained by the atmosphere will ______ as the levels of greenhouse gases increase.

increase Reason: Greenhouse gases trap the long-wave heat, leading to global warming.

The rise in greenhouse gas levels has ______.

increased Earth's average temperature as less heat radiation can escape Earth's atmosphere

As you move up in the stratosphere and the thermosphere, the air temperature ______.

increases

In the middle latitudes, low-pressure systems are located over the _________ during the summer as the surface heats quickly. However, in the winter, the high-pressure systems tend to form there as the air is cooler and sinks.

land

The amount of daylight and the angle the Sun's rays strike Earth vary with ______ because the ______ of Earth's tilt with respect to the solar plane changes during the course of a year. Multiple choice question.

latitude; direction

Clouds can affect Earth's surface temperatures by absorbing some ______ radiation from Earth's surface, thus keeping it warmer, and by reflecting some ______ radiation from the Sun, thus keeping Earth cooler.

long-wave; short-wave

Global atmospheric circulation results in stable low- and high-pressure systems at certain latitudes. The high precipitation rates in ______-pressure systems result in ______-than-average salinity in the ocean surface waters below.

low; lower Reason: Rain is common in low-pressure systems because rising air cools and can hold less moisture.

The surface temperatures on land vary more over the course of a year than the surface temperatures on the ocean because land has a ______ than the ocean does.

lower heat capacity

Measurements made at Earth's surface near the equator show that over the course of a year, ______.

more heat is gained than is lost

The most common gas element in the atmosphere by volume is _______, and the second most common is _______.

nitrogen; oxygen

There is a natural annual increase and decrease in carbon dioxide levels in the Northern Hemisphere because ______.

plants absorb carbon dioxide in the spring and summer as they grow and release it in fall and winter as plant material decays

A heat budget ______.

represents the gains and losses of heat from Earth and the atmosphere to space

During El Niño events, the pressure systems in the Pacific _______.

reverse the normal surface pressure gradient

An air mass warmed near the equator ______ and travels aloft until it reaches about 30 degrees latitude, when it sinks because it has cooled enough. The air mass then moves either north or south where it rises again at the equator or at ______ degrees of latitude.

rises; 60

______ forms as seawater begins to freeze at the ocean's surface.

sea ice

Pancake ice results when ______.

sheets of new sea ice are broken into small rounded pieces

If you assume Earth has no atmosphere, the intensity of the solar radiation available on a surface at right angles to the Sun's rays is 2 calories per square centimeter per minute. This value is known as the ______.

solar constant

The maximum sea-surface elevation occurs in the middle of low-pressure systems such as hurricanes. This hill or mound of water is called a(n) _______ surge.

storm

The difference in heat capacity between the land and oceans leads to low-pressure systems forming over the land in the _______ and over the _______ in winter.

summer; oceans

The natural destruction of ozone over Antarctica occurs when ______.

temperatures drop low enough for clouds to form between 10 and 30 km up in the atmosphere

The vast majority of energy used to heat the oceans and atmosphere initially comes from ______.

the Sun

Atmospheric pressure is the force ______.

with which a column of overlying air presses on an area of Earth's surface