Week 3 - Heat and temperature of the Earth

Question 1

What is energy?

Answer 1

It’s a property of substances; it’s the ability to do work on mass.

Question 2

What is temperature?

Answer 2

It is average kinetic energy, as well as the property that dictates the flow of heat energy.

Question 3

How is temperature measured?

Answer 3

“Hot” and “cold” with a thermometer.

Question 4

What is heat and how does it relate to temperature?

Answer 4

Heat is the flow of energy from something that is relatively warm to something that is relatively cold; it will continue to flow until the temperature of the two things are the same.

Question 5

How is heat transferred?

Answer 5

It can be transferred via radiation, conduction, or convection/advection.

Question 6

What is solar altitude?

Answer 6

Solar altitude is the angle of the sun above the horizon.

Question 7

How much is the Earth’s axial tilt?

Answer 7

23.4

Question 8

At what latitudes are the tropics and polar circles?

Answer 8

23.5, 66.5

Question 9

What is axial parallelism?

Answer 9

As the Earth rotates around the sun, its axis is always parallel to itself, no matter what its position to the sun is.

Question 10

What is normal lapse rate?

Answer 10

It’s the rate at which atmospheric temperature drops in relation to increased altitude.

Question 11

What is the average normal lapse rate?

Answer 11

6.5 C

Question 12

What is specific heat?

Answer 12

The amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a substance.

Question 13

Land has ___ specific heat.

Answer 13

Land has low specific heat; it’s quick to heat and cool.

Question 14

Water has ___ specific heat.

Answer 14

Water has high specific heat; it’s slow to heat and cool.

Question 15

What is continentality?

Answer 15

The fact that places inland have higher temperature variations due to the low specific heat of land.

Question 16

What are the main geographic controls on Earth’s temperature?

Answer 16

Latitude, altitude, land cover, continentality.

Question 17

What is air pressure?

Answer 17

It’s the force exerted by the weight of air molecules.

Question 18

What is high pressure in terms of altitude and temperature?

Answer 18

Low altitude, low temperatures.

Question 19

What is low pressure in terms of altitude and temperature?

Answer 19

High altitude, high temperatures.

Question 20

Where does air flow, pressure-wise?

Answer 20

From high to low pressure.

Question 21

How do we measure air pressure?

Answer 21

With a barometer.

Question 22

How does a barometer work?

Answer 22

When air pressure is high, it exerts more force on the mercury, causing it to rise from the dish into the tube.

Question 23

What’s an isobar?

Answer 23

It’s a line on a map connecting places with the same atmospheric pressure.

Question 24

What does a bigger pressure gradient mean?

Answer 24

It means a greater difference in pressures closer together, which creates much higher wind speeds.

Question 25

What is the Coriolis Effect?

Answer 25

It’s the apparent deflection in the paths of objects—e.g. planes, wind, ocean currents—caused by the rotation of the Earth.

Question 26

What controls the Coriolis Force?

Answer 26

The Earth’s rotation.

Question 27

Explain the pattern of highs and lows around the world.

Answer 27

The Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) -- low pressure; Hadley Cells (northeast and southeast trade winds); Sub-Tropical High -- high pressure; Ferrell Cells (westerlies); Polar Front (mid-latitude cyclone areas) -- low pressure; Polar Cells (polar easterlies); Polar Vortez -- high pressure

Question 28

What sort of climate is the sub-tropical high associated with?

Answer 28

Deserts.

Question 29

What are the two main controls on the strength of the Coriolis force?

Answer 29

Latitude (absent at equator, stronger at poles) and wind speed.

Question 30

Which way does the Coriolis force deflect?

Answer 30

If you are looking in the direction that the wind is blowing, it deflects to the right in the N. hemisphere and to the left in the S. hemisphere.

Question 31

What is teleconnection?

Answer 31

A strong connection between weather events in distant parts of the globe associated with large-scale atmospheric waves or circulation patterns.

Question 32

What are the two main forces that control air movement?

Answer 32

The pressure gradient and the Coriolis force.

Question 33

Low altitude / low temp =

Answer 33

high pressure

Question 34

High altitude / high temp =

Answer 34

low pressure

Question 35

The direction of the pressure gradient force is always _______ to the isobars.

Answer 35

perpendicular

Question 36

If the isobars are far apart, what does that mean for the pressure gradient force and wind speeds?

Answer 36

Both will be relatively low.

Question 37

In which direction does the Earth rotate?

Answer 37

Looking down from the North Pole, counter-clockwise.

Question 38

What are the "normal" conditions for trade winds in the equatorial Pacific?

Answer 38

They blow from the east.

Question 39

Under "normal" conditions in the equatorial Pacific, where would you find warmer sea surface temperatures?

Answer 39

In the western Pacific (Indonesia and Australia).

Question 40

What is upwelling and, under "normal" conditions in the equatorial Pacific, where does it occur?

Answer 40

Upwelling is deep, cold, nutrient-rich water being brought up from the deep, and it occurs under normal conditions off the coast of Ecuador and Peru. Great for fisherman!

Question 41

Under "normal" conditions in the equatorial Pacific, where would you find the most precipitation?

Answer 41

In the western Pacific, where warm air rises, cools, and sheds the moisture it picked up while travelling across the Pacific. The eastern Pacific region is relatively dry.

Question 42

What is the Walker Circulation?

Answer 42

Basically, a causal description of "normal" conditions in the equatorial Pacific.

Question 43

What is ENSO?

Answer 43

The El Niño Southern Oscillation; a flip-flopping of conditions in the equatorial Pacific.

Question 44

What is El Niño?

Answer 44

A reversal of normal conditions in the equatorial Pacific.

Question 45

What is La Niña?

Answer 45

A strengthening of normal conditions in the equatorial Pacific.

Question 46

Are El Niño and ENSO the same thing?

Answer 46

No, because ENSO is a combination of both La Niña and El Niño.

Question 47

What are the effects of El Niño in California?

Answer 47

Usually (though not always) storms, landslides, and floods.

Question 48

What are the effects of El Niño in Northern US and Canada?

Answer 48

The jetstream is pushed northward, so relatively mild winters. The East is relatively moist.

Question 49

What are the effects of El Niño in Peru?

Answer 49

Heavy rain, floods, landslides.

Question 50

What are the effects of El Niño in Australia?

Answer 50

Droughts and bush-fires.

Question 51

What are the effects of El Niño in India and Oceania?

Answer 51

Erratic or failed monsoons.

Question 52

What are the effects of El Niño in Africa?

Answer 52

Possible drought and famine.

Question 53

What are the effects of El Niño in eastern Pacific?

Answer 53

Lots of tropical cyclones.

Question 54

What are the effects of El Niño in western Atlantic?

Answer 54

Less tropical cyclones.

Question 55

What is it called (in the equatorial Pacific) when conditions are fairly neutral?

Answer 55

La Nada.

Question 56

What does PDO stand for?

Answer 56

Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

Question 57

What is the PDO?

Answer 57

Warm or cool waters in the Pacific north of 20 degrees.

Question 58

What happens during a warm (positive) phase of the PDO?

Answer 58

The east Pacific is warm and the west Pacific is cool

Question 59

What happens during a cool (negative) phase of the PDO?

Answer 59

The east Pacific is cool and the west Pacific is warm.

Question 60

What are the major patterns whose teleconnections account for much of the weather variability around the world?

Answer 60

ENSO, PDO, Northern Annular Mode (NAM), Southern Annular Mode (SAM), etc.

Question 61

The Northern Annular Mode (NAM) is closely associated with which two oscillations?

Answer 61

North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO)

Question 62

What are annular modes?

Answer 62

Hemispheric-scale circulation pattern defined by changes | in the westerly winds at mid-latitudes.

Question 63

How do the annular modes oscillate?

Answer 63

See-saw (dipole) pattern between positive and negative | phases.

Question 64

What are the two annular modes?

Answer 64

NAM (also called the Arctic Oscillation and closely related to the NAO) and SAM (also called the Antarctic Oscillation)

Question 65

How is ENSO measured?

Answer 65

By measuring trade winds, measuring pressure and calculating the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), and by measuring sea surface temperatures using the TAO array and calculating an index.

Question 66

How are PDO and ENSO related?

Answer 66

PDO tends to amplify ENSO.

Question 67

Which annular mode are we most affected by?

Answer 67

The Arctic Oscillation

Question 68

If there is higher pressure at the poles, what happens to the Polar Front?

Answer 68

It's pushed down toward the equator.

Question 69

What is a front?

Answer 69

It's a LINE that separates warm air masses from cold air masses.

Question 70

Why does precipitation occur when fronts move in?

Answer 70

Because dew point temps are reached.

Question 71

Why does cold air generally tend to over take warm air in mid-latitude cyclones?

Answer 71

Because it's higher pressure and therefore moving with more force.

Question 72

What controls solar altitude?

Answer 72

It is controlled by many factors, including the Earth’s rotation, the Earth’s axial tilt, and the progression of the equinoxes or march of the seasons.