Meteorology Chapter 1

The latitude of the equator is ____.

0°

The "ozone hole" is observed above ____.

Antarctica

Tiny solid or liquid suspended atmospheric particles of various composition are called ____.

aerosols

The vertical profile of ____ is variable in each layer of the earth's atmosphere.

air temperature

Areas of high atmospheric pressure are also known as ____.

anticyclones

In the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, surface winds tend to blow ____ and ____ around an area of surface low pressure.

counterclockwise; inward

Lines of latitude on a map represent the ____.

distance north or south from the equator

The greenhouse effect is directly enhanced by ____.

energy absorption by atmospheric water vapor particles

Middle-latitude cyclonic storm systems are also known as____.

extratropical cyclones

Air molecules are held near the earth's surface by ____.

gravity

What pattern is most likely associated with clear skies and fair weather?

high pressure regions

The earth's first atmosphere (approximately 4.6 billion years ago) was most likely composed of ____.

hydrogen and helium

Average atmospheric CO2 concentrations have ____ over the past 100 years.

increased

In a temperature inversion, air temperature ____.

increases with increasing height

What is a region in the atmosphere where air temperature remains constant with height?

isothermal zone

A radiosonde ____.

measures the vertical distribution of atmospheric temperature, pressure, and humidity

The most abundant gases in the earth's present day atmosphere (by volume) are ____.

nitrogen and oxygen

Near the earth's surface, ____ occupies about 78% and ____ about 21% of the total volume of dry air.

nitrogen; oxygen

You are facing north and the wind is blowing in your face. This wind would be called a(n) ____.

north wind

The primary source of water vapor and carbon dioxide to the earth's early atmosphere was most likely ____.

outgassing

Extratropical cyclones are found ____.

outside the tropics

Which gas is responsible for the temperature inversion in the stratosphere?

ozone

Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere through the process of ____.

photosynthesis

Clouds often form in the ____.

rising air in the center of a low pressure area

The word "weather" is defined as____.

the condition of the atmosphere at any particular time and place

The exosphere is ____.

the upper limit of our atmosphere

A towering cloud, or cluster of clouds, accompanied by thunder, lightning, strong gusty winds, and heavy rain is called a(n)____.

thunderstorm

Jet streams are found within the ____.

tropopause

All of the weather we are familiar with on the earth occurs in the ____.

troposphere

The only substance found naturally in the lower atmosphere that can exist as a solid, a liquid, and a gas is ____.

water

What is the weather element that involves the horizontal movement of air?

wind