Extra

Question 1

What is temperature in the context of geography?

Answer 1

Temperature is the measure of the kinetic energy of air molecules.

Question 2

How is temperature typically measured?

Answer 2

Temperature is measured in degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit using thermometers.

Question 3

What factors influence temperature?

Answer 3

Latitude, altitude, proximity to water, and ocean currents.

Question 4

What is the greenhouse effect?

Answer 4

The trapping of heat by gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, which warms the planet.

Question 5

Why does temperature vary with altitude?

Answer 5

Temperature decreases with altitude due to lower air pressure and density.

Question 6

What is latitude?

Answer 6

Latitude is the distance north or south of the equator, measured in degrees.

Question 7

What is longitude?

Answer 7

Longitude is the distance east or west of the Prime Meridian, measured in degrees.

Question 8

What is the significance of the equator?

Answer 8

It divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Question 9

What are the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn?

Answer 9

They are located at 23.5°N and 23.5°S, respectively.

Question 10

What is the International Date Line?

Answer 10

A line located at 180° longitude where the date changes by one day.

Question 11

What is air pressure?

Answer 11

Air pressure is the force exerted by the weight of air above a surface.

Question 12

How is air pressure measured?

Answer 12

Air pressure is measured in millibars (mb) or inches of mercury (Hg) using a barometer.

Question 13

What causes variations in air pressure?

Answer 13

Temperature changes, altitude, and weather patterns.

Question 14

What is a high-pressure system?

Answer 14

An area where air is descending, often associated with clear skies.

Question 15

What is a low-pressure system?

Answer 15

An area where air is rising, often associated with cloudy and rainy weather.

Question 16

What are radiation waves?

Answer 16

Energy that travels through space as electromagnetic waves.

Question 17

What is shortwave radiation?

Answer 17

Radiation from the Sun, including visible and ultraviolet light.

Question 18

What is longwave radiation?

Answer 18

Infrared radiation emitted by the Earth.

Question 19

What is the role of radio waves in the atmosphere?

Answer 19

Used in communication, they are low-energy longwave radiation.

Question 20

Why is understanding radiation important?

Answer 20

It helps explain energy transfer and climate patterns.

Question 21

What is the surface energy budget?

Answer 21

The balance between incoming and outgoing energy at Earth’s surface.

Question 22

What is insolation?

Answer 22

Incoming solar radiation received by Earth’s surface.

Question 23

What are the main components of the energy budget?

Answer 23

Solar radiation, terrestrial radiation, latent heat, and sensible heat.

Question 24

What is albedo?

Answer 24

The reflectivity of a surface; lighter surfaces reflect more solar energy.

Question 25

How does the surface energy budget influence climate?

Answer 25

It determines temperature and weather patterns.

Question 26

What is the lapse rate?

Answer 26

The rate at which air temperature decreases with altitude.

Question 27

What is the environmental lapse rate?

Answer 27

The average decrease in temperature with height, about 6.5°C per kilometer.

Question 28

What is the dry adiabatic lapse rate?

Answer 28

The rate of cooling for unsaturated air, about 10°C per kilometer.

Question 29

What is the moist adiabatic lapse rate?

Answer 29

The rate of cooling for saturated air, about 6°C per kilometer.

Question 30

Why are lapse rates important?

Answer 30

They influence weather, cloud formation, and atmospheric stability.

Question 31

What are the layers of the atmosphere?

Answer 31

Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.

Question 32

What occurs in the troposphere?

Answer 32

Weather and most atmospheric phenomena occur here.

Question 33

What is the ozone layer and where is it located?

Answer 33

A layer in the stratosphere that absorbs UV radiation.

Question 34

What are the main gases in the atmosphere?

Answer 34

Nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), and trace gases like CO2 and argon.

Question 35

Why is the atmosphere essential for life?

Answer 35

It provides oxygen, regulates temperature, and blocks harmful radiation.

Question 36

What are clouds?

Answer 36

Visible masses of water droplets or ice crystals in the atmosphere.

Question 37

What are the main types of clouds?

Answer 37

Cumulus, stratus, cirrus, and nimbus.

Question 38

What is the role of clouds in weather?

Answer 38

They influence temperature, precipitation, and energy balance.

Question 39

What is cloud condensation nuclei?

Answer 39

Particles like dust that provide surfaces for water vapor to condense.

Question 40

How do clouds form?

Answer 40

When air cools and water vapor condenses at the dew point.

Question 41

What is an mT air mass?

Answer 41

Maritime tropical air mass, warm and moist.

Question 42

What is a cT air mass?

Answer 42

Continental tropical air mass, hot and dry.

Question 43

How do mT and cT air masses influence weather?

Answer 43

mT brings humidity and storms; cT causes dry, hot conditions.

Question 44

Where do mT air masses originate?

Answer 44

Over warm oceans, such as the Gulf of Mexico.

Question 45

Where do cT air masses originate?

Answer 45

Over hot, dry land areas, such as deserts.

Question 46

What is the subsolar point?

Answer 46

The point on Earth's surface where the Sun is directly overhead.

Question 47

What is the declination of the Sun?

Answer 47

The latitude where the Sun is directly overhead at noon.

Question 48

What causes Earth's seasons?

Answer 48

The tilt of Earth's axis and its orbit around the Sun.

Question 49

What is the significance of the solstices?

Answer 49

The longest and shortest days of the year.

Question 50

What is the significance of the equinoxes?

Answer 50

Days when day and night are approximately equal in length.