Hazardous Earth Flashcards
How does the energy from the sun vary over the Earth’s surface?
- Angle of rays makes solar insolation very intense at equator but dispersed over a wider area at the poles
- Wind helps as without, the equator would be too hot and the poles too cold
- Heat is distributed by pressure differences and ocean currents
What is the ITCZ and what weather does it bring?
- Inter tropical convergence zone
- Forms within tropics where two masses of air meet
- It creates rainy weather
- Area of low pressure
What is a hadley cell?
- Atmospheric convection cell
- Where air rises at the equator and sinks at medium latitude
What is a polar cell?
- Small and weak
- Extend from between 60 and 70 degrees north and south, to the poles
- Air in these cells sinks over the highest latitudes and flows out towards the lower latitudes
What is a polar cell?
- Small and weak
- Extend from between 60 and 70 degrees north and south, to the poles
- Air in these cells sinks over the highest latitudes and flows out towards the lower latitudes
What is a ferrel cell?
- Air flows poleward and eastward near surface
- Flows westward at higher altitudes
What is a convection current?
Movement of a fluid caused by a difference in temp or density
What is a coriolis affect
The effect of the Earth’s rotation on wind movements
What is a coriolis affect
The effect of the Earth’s rotation on wind movements
What is a cyclone?
Large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure
What is a cyclone?
Large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure
What is one way climate change is being affected naturally?
Sunspots
- Decrease in the amount of solar activity
- Or increases- more solar radiation reaches Earth
What is the greenhouse gas effect?
- The greenhouse gas effect is the way that gases in the atmosphere trap heat from the sun
- The gases act like the glass in a greenhouse
- The gases let heat in, but prevent most of it getting out
