Weather and Climate

GMT times that data is gathered and disseminated worldwide.

0000, 0600, 1200, 1800

Weather observation stations on land worldwide.

10,000

Weather forecast offices in the U.S.

119

Zone B Dry Climates

30% of Earth's land area, Evaporation exceeds precipitation.

Ships at sea that gather weather data at any given time.

7,000

Pattern Recognition

A basic concept that is still important to forecasting today.

Weather Forecast

A scientific estimate of the weather conditions at some future time.

Air Pollutants

Air-bourne particles and gases that occur in concentration that endanger the health and well-being of organisms or disrupt the orderly functioning of the environment.

30 pounds

Amount of air the average adult requires each day.

2.6 pounds

Amount of food the average adult requires each day.

4.4 pounds

Amount of water the average adult requires each day.

World Meteorological Organization

An agency of the United Nations, responsible for the international exchange of weather data. There are 185 participating nations and territories.

Pollution

An undesirable change in the physical, chemical, or biological characteristic of air, water, soil, or food that can adversely affect the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living things.

Persistence Forecasts

Approach to forecasting based on the idea that weather tends to remain unchanged for several hours or a day at most.

Trend Forecasting

Approach to forecasting that assumes that weather occurring upstream will persist and eventually affect the area in its path.

Analog Method

Approach to forecasting that is based on the assumption that weather repeats itself, at least in a general way.

Nowcasting

Approach to forecasting that is most useful for making short term predictions of severe events.

Climatological Forecasting

Approach to weather forecasting that uses climatological data.

Six Natural Sources of Primary Air Pollutants

Ash from Volcanoes, smoke for lightning fires, salt particles from breaking waves, windblown dust, and pollen & spores from plants.

ASOS

Automated Surface Operating Systems

Climate

Average weather conditions in an area.

National Center for Environmental Prediction

Branch of the NWS that is responsible for preparing weather maps, charts, and forecasts on a global and national scale.

Model Output Statistics

Can correct for errors that a model tends to make consistently.

Five Primary Pollutants Found in U.S.

Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxides, Volatile Organic Compounds, Sulfur Dioxide, and Particulates.

Obliquity

Changes in the angle that Earth's axis makes with the plane of ecliptic.

Plate Tectonics

Climates change as continents move around and mountain ranges are created or destroyed.

Koppen System

Climatic system developed by the Wladimir Koppen during the period from 1918 to 1936.

Five Largest Sources of Energy for the Generation of Electricity in the U.S.

Coal, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Other, Petroleum.

Five sources of primary pollutants created by humans

Combustion processes, chemical processes, nuclear or atomic processes, roasting and heating processes, and mining and farming.

More than 4,000

Deaths per year in the U.S. that are thought to be due to exposure to elevated levels of ozone at the Earth's surface.

Climograph

Displays the long term average distribution of temperature and precipitation over the year.

Climatic Zones

Diversion of the surface of the earth into areas that have similar climatic conditions.

Oxygen Isotope Analysis

Due to the face that O-16 evaporates more readily than O-18, so sea creatures that incorporate oxygen into their calcium carbonate shells provide an indirect record.

Zone H Highland Climates

Due to the variability vertically over and short distance horizontally.

Pollen Studies

Especially in lake sediments

Ensemble Forecasting

Forecasting that involves producing a number of forecasts using the same computer model but slightly altering the initial conditions, while remaining in the error range of the observational instruments.

Long range forecasts

Forecasts that are more predictions of general trends than are shorter range forecasts. May be weekly, monthly, or seasonal outlooks.

Very Short Range Forecasts

Forecasts that are quite good most of the time and vastly improved over a few decades ago.

Monthly and Seasonal Forecasts

Forecasts that will likely never include day to day detail.

Volcanic Activity

Gases and particulates put into the air, dust tends to block out solar radiation.

Data buoys and oil platforms that gather weather data.

Hundreds

Key Controls of Climate

Latitude, Land/Water Contrasts, Presence of topographic barriers, General circulation of the atmosphere, general circulation of the oceans, elevation, and storms.

Zone E Polar Climates

Little solar heating, Coldest summers on Earth, lowest temperatures in the world.

Prognostic Charts or Progs

Machine generated maps that predict atmospheric conditions at some future time.

Synoptic Weather Maps

Maps that display a synopsis of the weather conditions at a given moment.

Zone A Tropical Humid Climates

No winter, Moderately high temp throughout the year, land between 15 and 20 degrees N & S.

Seafloor Sediments

Numbers and kinds of organisms living near the sea surface change with the climate

Five Largest Sources of Primary Pollutants in the U.S.

On-road vehicles, Non-road Equipment, Fires, Electricity Generation, Road Dust.

Zone D Severe Midlatitude Climates

Only in Northern Hemisphere, Four well developed seasons.

Four categories of sources of air pollution

Point sources, mobile sources, biogenic sources, area sources

Primary Pollutants

Pollutants that are emitted directly from identifiable sources. They pollute the air immediately upon being emitted.

Secondary Pollutants

Pollutants that are produced in the atmosphere when certain chemical reactions take place among primary pollutants.

Great Smog of 1952

Pollution event in England in 1952 that was particularly severe.

Weather Analysis

Process that includes the collection, transmission, and compilation of millions of pieces of observational data in order to gain accurate picture of current atmospheric conditions. Supercomputers have proven to be especially useful for quickly carrying out this task.

Medium Range Forecasts

Rely mainly on global weather prediction systems.

Infrared Images

Satellite images that are especially useful for studying/observing temperature variations and can predict temperatures at various altitudes.

Water Vapor Images

Satellite images that rely on the fact that water vapor emits radiation at a wavelength of 6.7 micrometers.

Polar Satellites

Satellites that are in 100 minute polar orbitals at 530 miles and pass over progressive 15 degree increments.

Photochemical Smog

Smog that especially includes ozone.

Mobile Sources

Sources that include cars, trucks, air planes, and lawnmowers.

Point Sources

Sources that include factories and electric power plants.

Biogenic Sources

Sources that include non-human sources like trees, microbes, and oil and gas seeps.

Area Sources

Sources that include small and individual sources like dry cleaners and degreasing operations.

Numerical Weather Prediction

Technique used to forecast weather using numerical models designed to represent atmospheric processes.

Six weather variables of forecasts

Temperature, cloudiness, humidity, precipitation, wind speed, wind direction.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

The National Weather Service (NWS) is a branch of this larger U.S. government organization.

$1 Billion

The cost to agriculture in the U.S. each year from air pollution

Precession

The wobbling on the Earth's axis.

Geostationary Satellites

There are one of these satellites over each U.S. coast and are especially useful for studying cloud patterns.

Zone C Mild Midlatitude Climates

Transition between warmer tropical climates and severe midlatitude climates, long and hot summers, short and mild winters.

Eccentricity

Variations in the shape of Earth's orbit

Climate System

Very dynamic and includes the interaction between the various spheres: atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and cryosphere.

Weather Forecast Offices

Where forecasts made by the national center for environmental prediction are disseminated and used to produce local and regional weather forecasts.

1.8 to 3.1

Years that are estimated to be cut off the lives of Americans in the most polluted urban areas.