Def from Lectures only

Question 1

Climate

Answer 1

average conditions of atmosphere in a region

Question 2

climate near/on ground surface

Answer 2

microclimate

Question 3

climate on small area of Earth’s surface

Answer 3

mesoclimate

Question 4

climate in state/country

Answer 4

macroclimate

Question 5

climate on entire earth

Answer 5

global climate

Question 6

Air pressure

Answer 6

decreases as altitude increases

Question 7

Industrial smog

Answer 7

fog/humid air and sulphur dioxide/particulates from burning coal

Question 8

Photochemical smog

Answer 8

sunlight and nitrogen oxides/volatile organic compounds (from car exhaust, etc.)

Question 9

Thermal inversion

Answer 9

inversion layer (warm air)-pollution trapped close to ground

Question 10

Aire quality index

Answer 10

indicator of air quality

-determined by conc. of O2, fine particulate matter, NO2, SO2, CO, total reduced sulfur

Question 11

Net Radiation

Answer 11

incoming radiation-outgoing

Question 12

Urban Heat Island

Answer 12

city warmer than surrounding countryside

-factors: little release of latent heat from urban asphalt and concrete

Question 13

Specific Humidity

Answer 13

actual quantity of water vapor in the air

Question 14

Saturation specific humidity

Answer 14

max amount of H2O that air parcel can contain at any given time (based on temp)

Question 15

Saturation

Answer 15

evaporation=condensation

Question 16

relative humidity

Answer 16

H2O in air compared to max H2O at that temp

-ratio between the specific humidity of the atmosphere, and its maximum specific humidity at any given temperature

Question 17

Acidification

Answer 17

increase in conc. of hydrogen ions in water and/or soil

-increase with coal burning

Question 18

Water balance

Answer 18

balance b/w precipation and evaporation

-water inflitrates ground and perulates downward

Question 19

Wind

Answer 19

air moving horizontally relative to earth’s surface

caused by: unequal heating of Earth’s atmosphere

Question 20

Constant pressure maps

Answer 20

Constant height: plot variations in air pressure on constant elevation
On maps: isobars connect pts of equal pressure

Question 21

Thermal circulations

Answer 21

new pressure gradient at surface moves air from ocean surface towards island while air moving opp. direction at upper levels, completing 2 loops

Question 22

Convergence

Answer 22

created by air spinning into cyclone

-convergence at surface, divergence above

Question 23

Divergence

Answer 23

created by air spiraling out anticyclone

-divergence at surface, convergence above

Question 24

El Nino

Answer 24

change in the atmospheric and oceanic circulation in the South Pacific
-leads to global climate impacts and teleconnections

Question 25

Wet Equatorial Climate

Answer 25

• low-latitude
• dominated by ITCZ
• mE and mT air (moist, warm)

Question 26

Wet-Dry Tropical Climate

Answer 26

-low-latitude
-High-sun season →ITCZ influence →Wet
•mT and mE air
-Low-sun season →Sub Tropical High influence →Dry
•cT air

Question 27

Moist Subtropical Climate

Answer 27

• mid-latitude
• moist mT air -convective rainfall
• cP air in winter -winter precipitation from mid-latitude cyclones

Question 28

Marine West Coast Climate

Answer 28

• orographic effect
• cool, moist winter
• mild/dry summer

Question 29

Moist Continental Climate

Answer 29

P and T air masses meet
–cP & cA air in winter
–mT in summer

Question 30

Moist climate

Answer 30

where soil remains moist all year

Question 31

Dry climate

Answer 31

where evaporation exceeds precipation

Question 32

Hypoxia

Answer 32

status of water than have dissolved oxygen conc. less than 2 mg/L

Question 33

Anoxia

Answer 33

dissolved oxygen: 0 mg/L

Question 34

Species richness

Answer 34

of species in an area

Question 35

Species diversity

Answer 35

proportional rep of species in an area

Question 36

Biochemical oxygen demand

Answer 36

measure of amount of oxygen consumed by microbes

Question 37

Assimilative capacity

Answer 37

if dissolved oxygen less than 5mg/L

Question 38

Bioaccumulation

Answer 38

accumulation of higher and higher conc. of potentially toxic chemicals in organisms

Question 39

Biomagnification

Answer 39

conc. of chemical increases up trophic levels