weather and climate

What is the best way to determine what the climate was like during any time period during the last 120 years?

Use temperature and precipitation records.

What is weather forecasting?

Using information to predict weather in the future

How are weather and climate different? (Select all that apply.)

Weather is more short-term than climate. Weather follows a yearly pattern, whereas climate occurs over a number of years.

How do hurricanes cause damage? (Select all that apply.)

Wind damage Storm surge that creates inland flooding Heavy rainfall that causes flooding

Earth's different climate zones are created in part by the varying intensity and duration of __________ energy received throughout the year.

solar

A(n) ______ is a rapid and violent weather change.

storm

The United Nations established ______ to release reports on the state of the climate and make projections about climate change based on climate models.

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

The main weather producers are ______. (Select all that apply.)

the fronts of moving air masses the movement of large air masses with distinct qualities local high- and low-pressure patterns

The ultimate energy source driving global warming is ______.

the sun

A brief but intense storm with rain, lightning, thunder, and gusty winds is a ______.

thunderstorm

A ______ is the smallest, most violent weather disturbance that occurs on Earth.

tornado

General atmospheric circulation that drives weather patterns includes the poleward movement of ______.

warm air from the tropics

Match the storm type with the correct definition. Tropical depression Tropical storm Hurricane

An area of low pressure around which winds are generally moving at 55 km/h or less An intense low-pressure area with winds between 56 and 120 km/h A very intense low-pressure area with winds greater than 120 km/h

The Sun's intensity and duration is maximized at which location on the figure?

C, Equatorial regions

______ is the general pattern of the weather that occurs for a region over a number of years.

Climate

How are clouds formed? (Select all that apply.)

Clouds form when a mass of air above the surface is cooled to its dew point temperature. Clouds form when moist air rises in the atmosphere.

What is the primary way in which climate change is being studied?

Complex mathematical models

What is the first step in describing a major climate zone?

Consider whether it is polar, temperate, or tropical.

Driven by the Sun, which three of the following are the dominant processes moving water continuously into and out of the atmosphere?

Evaporation Condensation Precipitation

Which of the following are factors that could contribute to global climate change? (Select all that apply.)

Sunspot cycles Greenhouse gases Milankovitch cycles

What is the source of energy needed to evaporate water from the oceans?

The Sun

Select all those items below that are characteristics of hurricanes.

Heavy bands of clouds Thunderstorms that rapidly rotate around an eye Wind gusts

What are the three major kinds of storms? (Select all that apply.)

Hurricanes Tornadoes Thunderstorms

Which of the following correctly describe an air mass?

It acquires the temperature and moisture characteristics of the surface it forms over. It is relatively large, covering millions of square kilometers.

Which of the following are used to infer the climate before temperature records were kept? (Select all that apply.)

Lake-bottom sediments Ice cores Tree rings

Which two of the four factors that affect regional climate have the ability to make temperatures more even from day to night and from summer to winter?

Large bodies of water Ocean currents

What are the major causes of cloud formation resulting from the uplifting of air masses? (Select all that apply.)

Mountain ranges that serve as a barrier to moving air Collision of moving air masses with different densities Convection resulting from differential heating

Select the four major factors that affect regional climate.

Ocean currents Altitude Large bodies of water Mountains

Choose all the examples of precipitation.

Rain Snow

What do tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes have in common? (Mark all that apply.)

They are all storms with strong upward atmospheric motion. They all have a cyclonic surface wind circulation. They are born over tropical or subtropical waters and are not associated with a weather front.

Which of the following statements are applicable to tornadoes? (Select all that apply.)

They resemble long, narrow funnels or ropelike structures. They may occur along with intense thunderstorms. They have a very extreme pressure gradient, with the low in the center of the storm.

True or false: Thunderstorms usually develop in very moist, warm, and unstable air.

True

Weather forecasting is accomplished using ______. (Select all that apply.)

computer modeling basic scientific laws concerning solar radiation, heat, motion, and the gas laws

A(n) __________ is defined as a low-pressure center where the winds move into the low-pressure center and are forced upward.

cyclone

True or false: Major climate zones are classified by two major factors: vegetation and human population.

false

The boundary between air masses of different temperatures is called a(n) ______.

front

The bubble of cold (blue) air on the left is separated from the warm (brown) air by a boundary, or narrow transition zone, called a(n) ______.

front

An anticyclone has a ______ pressure center, whereas a cyclone has a ______ pressure center.

high-; low-

An air ______ is defined as a large, horizontally uniform body of air with nearly the same temperature and moisture conditions.

mass

Water that returns to the surface of Earth, in either the liquid or solid form, is called

precipitation