MAGO Unit 1

What is the percentage of water vapor concentration?

0% to 4%

what are 4 reasons why water heats differently than land?

1. Higher specific heat 2. Higher transparency (heats deeper) 3. Convection (mixes) 4. Evaporation (uses energy)

What is the approximate surface pressure?

1000 mb

What percentage does oxygen make up dry air?

21%

What is the latitude of the Tropic of Cancer?

23.5 degrees North

What is the latitude of the Tropic of Capricorn?

23.5 degrees south

How much is the Earth's axis tilted?

23.5°

What percentage does nitrogen make up dry air?

78%

Using the equation (90° - Latitude of city) what would the altitude of the Sun be for a location on the equator at noon?

90-0=*90*

What is a photochemical reaction?

A reaction started by light

What are air pollutants?

Airborne particles and gases that occur in concentrations large enough to endanger the health of organisms

What would be different if Earth was not tilted?

Angle of the sun would be the same year round at a given latitude; 12 hour days at all latitudes

Many people assume that the coldest temperature of the day is around midnight, however around what time of day is the coldest temperature? Explain why this is true!

Coldest right before sunrise. Longest time sun has been gone

What are the three main methods heat energy is transferred in the atmosphere?

Conduction convection radiation

When is the winter solstice?

December 21

What is temperature range?

Difference between high and low

At what time of day do you expect the highest temperature of the day to occur? The lowest? Explain why it is not what most people expect.

Early-mid afternoon. Lowest just before sun comes up. There is a lag time between highest sun and highest temp since coldest temp was only a few hours earlier

Explain how & why the length of daylight changes throughout the year?

Equator has same year round. As distance from equator increases, the variation of length of day increases. This is due to tilt of Earth.

What does equinox mean?

Equinox describes when there is no tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the Sun.

Where do satellites orbit?

Exosphere

Why is the bottom of the troposphere the warmest when that part of the layer is farthest from the sun?

Ground absorbs light, UV, IR from sun and releases IR (heat) into lower atmosphere

Explain the differences between the annual temperature range for Guatemala and Chicago.

Guatemala is closer to Equator, so has more consistently high angle of sun and more consistent length of day (close to 12).

What is the difference between heat & temperature?

Heat is total energy of molecules, temperature is average energy of molecules

How do you think the albedo of Earth's surface might affect the climate of that region?

Higher albedo mean less energy absorbed. This results in a colder temperature.

Remember how Guatemala had 2 peaks on the sun altitude graph. Explain why any city (like Guatemala) which lies between the equator and 23.5⁰ N or 23.5⁰ S latitude, will always have 2 days per year where the highest sun altitude reaches 90⁰.

In terms of where sun is directly overhead, the sun goes back and forth between 23.5 N and S over course of year, passing each of those locations twice.

What month is the Earth closest to the Sun?

January

What month is the Earth farthest to the Sun?

July

When is the summer solstice?

June 21

What are five facts that control the temperature of a place on earths surface?

Latitude Altitude Cloud cover Windward v. Leeward proximity to water

Explain why average temperatures decrease from the Equator toward the poles.

Lower angle of the sun = less concentrated sunlight so less energy absorbed; more atmosphere light must pass through and more light that gets absorbed so less gets through to heat surface

When is the spring equinox?

March 21

What is the coldest layer of the atmosphere?

Mesosphere

Where do meteors burn up?

Mesosphere

What is average monthly temperature?

Monthly mean = average of the daily means

Casablanca, Morocco and Canberra, Australia are both 30° from the Equator and located on the ocean. Explain why the temperatures are much higher in Casablanca in July.

Morocco in NH, so highest sun in June; Australia is SH so lowest sun in June

What is a revolution?

Movement of Earth around the sun

Where on Earth would places receive 24 hours of light? Explain why!

North of Arctic Circle or south of Antarctic Circle. Due 23.5 tilt of Earth

Would you expect hotter daytime temperatures in the summer in Ocean City, MD or San Francisco, CA? Each are located at 38° North latitude, and each are right by the ocean. Explain.

Ocean City. Windward v. Leeward

On June 21, the number of hours of daylight is _______ hours at the North Pole and _______ hours at the South Pole.

On June 21, the number of hours of daylight is __*24*_____ hours at the North Pole and __*0*_____ hours at the South Pole.

Why does the stratosphere have a different profile than the troposphere?

Ozone layer absorbs UV and releases heat

What does albedo mean?

Percent of energy reflected from a surface

explain how the angle of sunlight affects the temperature of Earth

Same ray of sun covers a larger area of surface when at a lower angle, so less energy per unit area, so lower temp

Why do we have seasons?

Seasons occurs because of Earth's TILT, and different places receiving direct or indirect sunlight at different times

When is the autumnal equinox?

September 22-23

Where is the ozone layer located?

Stratosphere

Explain why south-facing slopes in the Northern Hemisphere are free from snow much earlier in the spring than north-facing slopes.

Sun rises in east and circles to the south to reach highest point, then sets in west. Sun is always south of us at noon, so northern slopes receive little direct sunlight

What is the main cause of the seasons?

The Earth's axis is tilted at 23.5° from the vertical which changed the amount and intensity of sunlight the earth receives.

What causes the temperature changes?

The atmosphere decreases in temp as you move away from the earths surface in the troposphere and in the mesosphere even though you are getting closer to the sun

What did humans develop in the mid 1900's that began destroying the ozone layer, particularly above the poles?

The chemical company, DuPont in the 30s created a new class of gasses which didn't react to anything. These gasses called CFCs were used in refrigerators, ac, and Styrofoam. In the mid 70s they realizes that the CFCs were thinning the ozones over the South Pole

The farther you are north of the equator on the summer solstice what happens to the length of the day?

The farther you are north of the equator on the summer solstice the longer the period of daylight

What is the summer solstice?

The longest day of the year (the most hours of sunlight)

What is the winter solstice?

The shortest day of the year (the least hours of sunlight)

What is rotation?

The spinning of Earth on its axis

What is weather?

The state of the atmosphere at a given time and place.

What is the thickest layer of the atmosphere?

Thermosphere

What is responsible for the fact that the angle that the sun's rays strike Earth at a particular location changes throughout the year?

Tilt plus revolution

What is the lowest level of the atmosphere?

Troposphere

What level of the atmosphere contains life?

Troposphere

Where does weather occur?

Troposphere

Explain why the amount of sunlight (length of daylight) exposure affects the temperature of different seasons.

While a lesser impact than angle of sun, more hours of daylight = more energy input so warmer than there would be otherwise

Would you expect hotter daytime temperatures in the summer in Wichita, KS or San Francisco, CA? Each are located at 38° North latitude, so each gets the same angle of sun and length of day. Explain.

Wichita because it is in the interior of continent and farther from moderating effect of oceans

With an increase in distance northward from the Equator, the length of daylight _____ in the summer and __________ in the winter.

With an increase in distance northward from the Equator, the length of daylight __*increases*_ in the summer and ___*decreases*______ in the winter.

What is the ozone?

a form of oxygen that combines three oxygen atoms into each molecule

What is an example of conduction?

a spoon in a pot of soup on the stove

What is the significance of water vapor?

absorbs heat given off by earth and absorbs some solar energy

What is carbon dioxides role in the air?

active absorber of energy given off by the earth

Standard atmospheric pressure at sea level is around 14.7 pounds per square inch. Why are we not crushed by atmospheric pressure?

air pushes in all directions (even in our bodies) also we are evolved to be in this environment

What happened if the ozone did not filter most of the UV radiation?

all of the suns uv rays would reach the surface of earth causing our planet to be uninhabitable for many living organisms.

What makes up 1% of the air?

argon

What is average yearly temperature?

average of the monthly means

What is another word for climate?

average weather

What is climate based on?

based on observations of weather that have been collected over many years

Why is the lower level of the thermosphere called the ionosphere?

because when the suns radiation reaches this layer the particles become electrically charged or become ionized

What is an example of convection?

boiling water

What is convection?

circulation of heated molecules of liquid or gas

Which process describes how energy moves around in Earth's atmosphere due to unequal heating?

convection

What is a precession of the Earth?

direction of the axis of rotation

What is an example of a primary pollutant?

emissions from cars

What is the name of the the last layer of the atmosphere until you reach space?

exosphere

What is an example of a low albedo surface?

forests, dirt

What is air?

gaseous mixture that makes up the Earth's atmosphere

does water behaves more like a material with a high albedo or a low albedo?

high

Explain why some mountains are covered with snow year-round even though they are located on the Equator.

high altitude

What happens to temperature in the troposphere and why?

hotter temperatures at the earths surface are from energy absorbed and radiated as hear by the ground (source of heat is the earths surface)

What causes the temperature increase in the stratosphere?

hotter temperatures in the stratosphere result from the interaction of ozone with uv radiation (source of heat is the excited ozone)

What is an example of a high albedo surface?

ice, snow

What is insolation?

incoming solar radiation

What are the 2 layers of the thermosphere?

ionosphere and exosphere

What does the thickness of the troposphere depend on?

latitude and the season

What is an example of radiation?

light from sun

Explain why the North Pole is not the hottest place on June 21 since it receives a longer period of sunlight than anywhere else.

low angle of the sun throughout the day; angle of the sun is a more important factor in temperature than length of daylight

Land and Water heat differently. Does water change temperature more quickly or more slowly than land?

more slowly

Where in the atmosphere do we spend our time?

near the bottom

What 2 gasses make up 99% of the atmosphere?

nitrogen and oxygen

What are some environments with 0% water vapor concentration?

north and south poles and deserts

What is the ozone's purpose?

protects Earth from UV radiation

Which process describes how Earth's surface emits (gives off) energy it has absorbed?

radiation

What are some environments with 4% water vapor concentration?

rainforests (like the amazon)

Where in the atmosphere is the pressure the greatest?

sea level (the bottom)

Describe the thermosphere

so little air that it is essentially a vacuum

What do the ionized particles in the ionosphere cause?

sometimes they make the sky glow creating an aurora (like the northern lights)

Which part of the atmosphere contains high concentrations of ozone?

stratosphere

Which part of the atmosphere do commercial jet airliners fly in?

stratosphere

Where does energy that drives earths variable weather come from?

sun

Would you expect the difference between daily high and low temperatures (temperature range) to be greater on a sunny day or a cloudy day?

sunny

Describe the temperature in the thermosphere

temp goes up as you go up

How are the layers of the atmosphere classified?

temperature trends and temperature differences

In the mesosphere how does the temperature change?

temperatures decrease as you go up

In the troposphere how does the temperature change?

temperatures decrease as you go up

In the stratosphere how does the temperature change?

temperatures increase as you go up

How does the earth produce a variety of different weather?

the combinations of earths motions and energy from the sun producers a variety of weather

why does the average temperature decrease from the equator towards the poles

the sun is less far from the equator and it receives more and direct sunlight and as we go to equator it decreases and in poles it becomes very little or none.

What causes the warm weather in the thermosphere?

the ultraviolet radiation from the sun turns to heat and causes the air to be very hot

Why do we have equinoxes?

the vertical rays of the sun strike the equator because earth in in a position in its orbit that the axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun

What is atmospheric pressure caused by?

the weight of air

How are secondary pollutants emitted in the air?

they form in the atmosphere when reactions take place among primary pollutants and other substances

is the exosphere thick or thin?

thin

What is Radiation?

transfer of energy via waves without needing a medium through which to travel

What is conduction?

transfer of heat through direct contact

What is the order of the atmospheres?

troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere (The, Strong, Mans, Triceps, Exploded)

What does the amount of energy distributed around the earths surface depend on?

varies with latitude, time of day, and seasons

What is the source of all clouds and precipitation?

water vapor

How do meteoroids burn up in the mesosphere?

when meteoroids enter the friction between the meteoroid and the mesosphere cause most meteoroids to burn up

What is an example of a photochemical reaction?

when nitrogen oxides absorbs solar radiation it creased smog