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