Atmosphere, Humidity and Seasons Study Guide Atmosphere, Humidity and Seasons

Why doesn’t water vapor rise above other gases to a higher level of the atmosphere?

Water vapor condenses and falls back to Earth

What type of cloud is associated with thunderstorms

cumulonimbus

Which element in Earth’s atmosphere is essential for human life

Hot air rising and cold air sinking causes

Air currents

How do clouds form

Why does ground fog form in the low areas?

Cool, descending air meets moist air in the low areas

Cloudy nights can be warmer than clear nights because clouds trap

heat

When moist air is cooled below its dew point water

Water condenses

What process is primarily responsible for the transfer of energy by air currents within the Earth’s atmosphere

Convection currents

By which process does sunlight travel through space

radiation

What type of cloud is associated with steady rain

nimbostratus

The ozone layer protects life on Earth from

UV radiation

Conduction is heat transfer by

Direct contact between particles

Most clouds form in the troposphere because

That’s where most of moisture is

Clouds are made of

Water/ Ice crystals

Describe how convection currents form

What is the % of Nitrogen in the atmosphere__________________; % oxygen ___________  

Name the layers of the atmosphere in order from the earth upwards

How was the early atmosphere formed

Volcanic eruptions of gases Cyanobacteria takes in CO2 in photosynthesis and produces O2

The ability of Earth’s atmosphere to absorb and retain heat is affected by the presence of two gases:

Water vapor Mainly CO2

When dew point and temperature are close then the chance of precipitation is:

greater

Which atmosphere layer contains the ozone layer

stratosphere

The ozone layer is being destroyed by chemical reactions with sunlight and the following

Chloroflorcarbons: CFCs

The layers of the Earth’s atmosphere are divided based on

temperature

Insolation is

Incoming solar radiation

Where (location) is insolation the greatest on earth

equator

As the altitude increases in the troposphere the temperature-

decreases

Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted 23 Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted 23.5° relative to the plane of its orbit, which helps to cause

seasons

What is the date? Equinox: equal Day and night

Summer: northern hemisphere

Winter northern hemisphere

What is equinox and what are the dates of the 2 equinoxes What are the dates of the solistices

Seasons The Earth's orbit is in the shape of an ellipse (a stretched out circle), so that sometimes the Earth is closer to the Sun than at other times The Earth is a very special planet in many ways. Just as Earth's unique atmosphere and its distance from the Sun work together to make Earth the right temperature to support life, Earth's orbit and its rotation work together to create the seasons.

Clouds and Humidity

WATER is the substance that can exist as a solid, liquid, and a gas in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Humidity: the amount of water vapor or moisture in the air

Dew Point is the temperature to which air must cool to become saturated Before it can condense water vapor must have a surface to condense on.

Saturated air = 100% relative humidity – it can hold no more water vapor!

Precipitation Precipitation is water (liquid or solid) that falls from the air to the Earth.

Cloud A cloud is a collection of millions of tiny water droplets or ice crystals. A cloud is NOT made up of water vapor!

Clouds http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0078617006/student_view0/ cirrus - Thin, wispy, curly-shaped clouds. cumulo-nimbus- Large, dense, towering clouds that cause rain and thunderstorms. cumulus - Puffy clouds. fog - Ground-hugging clouds. stratus - Layered, horizontal clouds with a flat base. http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0078617006/student_view0/

Joshua and Jennifer Mosser, Briar Woods High School Clouds In order for clouds to form, air must be at its dew point (temperature at which air is saturated). Water vapor condenses on small particles called condensation nuclei. Cirrus—light, thin, feathery (fair weather clouds) Cumulus—puffy white clouds Stratus—low gray clouds Joshua and Jennifer Mosser, Briar Woods High School

Cumulonimbus Clouds that produce thunderstorms

Layers of Atmosphere

Joshua and Jennifer Mosser, Briar Woods High School The Atmosphere Earth’s atmosphere is 21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen Human activities (cars, factories, burning land, coal) have increased carbon dioxide levels, causing a slight greenhouse effect Water vapor and carbon dioxide help the Earth to retain heat and make it warmer Burning fossil fuels also causes smog and contributes to acid rain Venus has an extreme greenhouse effect due to carbon dioxide Energy transfer in the atmosphere involves convection, radiation and conduction Joshua and Jennifer Mosser, Briar Woods High School

Layers of the Atmosphere

A meteorologist studies and forecasts the WEATHER.

Layers in order Thermosphere Mesosphere Stratosphere Troposphere

Layer of the atmosphere closest to Earth and has weather = TROPOSPHERE

Layer where the air pressure is the greatest = TROPOSPHERE

Layer of the atmosphere that contains the ozone layer = STRATOSPHERE

Ozone layer disappearing would lead to more cases of skin cancer

Man-made chemicals have decreased the ozone concentration in the upper atmosphere. 3/25/2017

CFCs are destroying the ozone layer CFCs are destroying the ozone layer. The chlorine atoms destroy ozone molecules.

What does temperature do in the troposphere as altitude increases? Temperature DECREASES

In which layer is the temperature the lowest? MESOSPHERE

Cold air is more dense than warm air; therefore it has GREATER pressure.

Heat Transfer

Radiation = the movement of energy through space Conduction = movement of heat by direct contact; by touch Example: metal pan on a hot stove Convection = movement of heat through a liquid or gas

Areas near the equator receive more of the sun’s energy per unit area than nearer the poles. 3/25/2017

Convection Is a Current that is set up when hot less dense material rises, cools, becomes denser and sinks. Hot stuff rises cold stuff sinks 3/25/2017

Convection runs oceans, atmosphere and Earths interior Convection runs oceans, atmosphere and Earths interior.Plate tectonics is driven by convection in the Earth’s mantle.Some ocean currents are convection currents 3/25/2017

Convection is the major mechanism of energy transfer in the oceans, atmosphere, and Earth’s interior. Convection in the atmosphere is a major cause of weather.

Early Atmosphere 3/25/2017

The early atmosphere contained little oxygen and more carbon dioxide than the modern atmosphere. 3/25/2017

Early photosynthetic life (blue green algae) generated oxygen and consumed carbon dioxide. It was only after early photosynthetic life generated oxygen that animal life become possible. 3/25/2017

Atmosphere Today 3/25/2017

Earth’s atmosphere is 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen and 1% trace gases. 3/25/2017

Human activities have increased the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere. 3/25/2017

Volcanic activity and meteorite impacts can inject large quantities of dust and gases into the atmosphere. 3/25/2017

The ability of the Earth’s atmosphere to absorb and retain heat is affected by the presence of gases like water vapor and carbon dioxide. 3/25/2017

Earth’s atmosphere The oxygen so characteristic of our atmosphere was almost all produced by plants (cyan bacteria or, more colloquially, blue-green algae). Thus, the present composition of the atmosphere is 79% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, and 1% other gases. Auroras (North/South Polar Lights; or aurorae, sing.: aurora) are natural colored light displays, which are usually observed in the night sky, particularly in the polar zone. Some scientists call them "polar auroras" (or "aurorae polares"). In northern latitudes, it is known as the aurora borealis (or the northern lights), named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas. It often appears as a greenish glow or sometimes a faint red, as if the sun was rising from an unusual direction. The aurora borealis is also called the northern polar lights, as it is only visible in the North sky from the Northern Hemisphere. The aurora borealis most often occurs from September to October and from March to April.

The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, for example) trap energy from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earth’s average temperature would be about 60ºF colder. Because of how they warm our world, these gases are referred to as greenhouse gases. The composition of the atmosphere can change due to human, biologic, and geologic activity.

The atmosphere of Venus is mostly carbon dioxide and very dense. 3/25/2017

The Martian atmosphere is very thin and mostly Carbon Dioxide. 3/25/2017