Week 4 Notes- Severe Weather, Air Pollution, Climate Change/Ch.3-Lec.4

Question 1

What is a weather front?

Answer 1

The zone between two air masses

Question 2

What are the four types of fronts, and what type of weather does each generally lead to?

Answer 2

cold front
warm front
occluded front
stationary front

Question 3

Tropical Cyclones come in three strengths. The strongest is called what.

Answer 3

1) tropical depression (<38mph)
2) tropical storm (39-73mph)
3) Hurricane (>74mph)

Question 4

What are the three factors needed for a hurricane to form?

Question 5

Why don’t hurricanes form within 3 degrees of the Equator?

Answer 5

Coriolis Effect

Question 6

Thunderstorms are violent convective storms. What does the term convective mean? Study the illustrations on page 23 of Chapter/Lecture 3.

Answer 6

Convective-warm moist air rising
a mix of cold air (+) and warm air (-) mixing

Question 7

What is lightning caused by, and what is thunder caused by?

Answer 7

Lightning is caused by an electric discharge in a thunderstorm.
Thunder is caused by the results of a shockwave produced by an instantaneous expansion of air.

Question 8

What is a tornado? What are the two storm conditions that promote the formation of a tornado?

Answer 8

A tornado is a narrow, violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground
Form only over warm oceans with warm
air, and where there is no significant wind
shear

Question 9

Where do tornadoes most occur?

Answer 9

-United States
-Canada
-England
-New Zealand
-Japan
-Australia
-India
-Bangladesh

Question 10

What are the six common causes of air pollution?

Answer 10

-Household (heating/cooking devices)
-motor vehicles
-industrial facilities
-powerplants
-forest fires
-agricultural/livestock emissions

Question 11

Why is particulate matter (PM2.5) a health concern?

Answer 11

Since they are easily inhaled/absorbed into your lungs and cause diseases (3 million deaths)

Question 12

What is the largest source of human-caused emissions that have led to global warming?

Answer 12

C02

Question 13

What are two methods by which scientists have compared global temperatures and CO2 levels over thousands of years, to conclude that we are in an age of human-caused global warming.

Answer 13

Dendrochronology
pollen analysis
ice cores
oxygen isotope analysis of ocean sediments

Question 14

What are the four current impacts of Global Warming on Earth?

Answer 14

• rising sea levels
  -thermohaline
  -coral bleaching
  -Ocean acidification

Question 15

What are four policies/practices that can help reduce Global Warming?

Answer 15

-switch to sustainable energy
-sustainable water/natural resources practice
-Land use planning and transit, efficient appliances
-promote biodiversity