Weather Climate Final exam study guide PDF

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Primary pollutants are emitted directly from identifiable sources and pollutes the air immediately upon being emitted, and Secondary pollutants are formed via a reaction that occurs in the atmosphere. Most pollution is caused by Transportation. Particulates are the most obvious form of air pollution. Cars on unpaved roads are responsible for the most particulate matter. 1952 saw the most deaths due to pollution at 4,000 people. Urban air pollution does NOT affect relative humidity. Important sources of sulfur dioxide include power plants, smelters, petroleum refineries, and pulp and paper mills. Sulfuric acid is a secondary pollutant, remember it is due to a reaction in the atmo. Carbon monoxide is the most abundant primary pollutant. Exposure to Lead harms the nervous system. Smog is an example of a secondary pollutant. Many reactions that produce secondary pollutants are triggered by strong sunlight and are called photochemical reactions. Ozone at the surface is a pollutant. Inversions represent a hazardous meteorological condition with respect to air pollution because they always bring: a near total lack of mixing in the lower atmo. Smoke released from a stack into a very stable air mass would tend to: spread out horizontally but not mix up or down. The climate system consists of the: the cryosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and solid Earth Proxy data: provide climate data representing times when instruments were not available to measure them. The primary goal of a paleoclimatologist is to: to reconstruct past climates. Past climate data measured with instruments extends back about: 200 years. One source of oxygen isotope measurements used for climate reconstruction come from: sea floor sediment. Sea floor sediments provide useful climate data because they contain: remains of living organisms. Oxygen-isotope analysis: relies on the fact that 16O evaporates from the ocean more readily than 18O. Glacial ice helps climatologists to reconstruct the CO2 concentrations of the atmosphere during the past: The contents of the air bubbles trapped in the ice. The part of a plant that is best preserved and can most easily be used for climate reconstruction is: the pollen. Corals can provide proxy data through the calcium carbonate that they extract from seawater while growing.

Plate tectonics (continental drift), may help us better understand the cause of the Ice Age. The length of time that a volcanic eruption impacts the climate is largely determined by: whether the ash or gas reaches the stratosphere. Volcanic eruptions can act as agents for climate change since they: reduce the solar energy at Earth's surface. The person who first developed and strongly advocated the astronomical theory for climate change was: Milutin Milankovitch. Variations in the shape of the earth's orbit: have a cycle of about 100,000 years. Variations in solar output are NOT part of astronomical theory. Requirements for an ice age on Earth include: continents located at high latitudes. We have not yet established the impact of solar variability on the Earth's climate system because: satellites have not yet been around long enough to provide a data set of adequate length. Humans influenced climate prior to the Industrial Revolution by alteration of ground cover for grazing and agriculture. The most important cause of the increase in atmospheric CO2 is burning of coal and petroleum. Water vapor is a major greenhouse gas along with CO2. This pair of elements is the most important in a climatic description temperature and precipitation. The Greeks were the first to try to classify climate. Climates with an average temperature during the coldest month between -3°C and 18°C are “C” and this is our area’s climate. In order to be a Cw climate, the precipitation: must be 10 times greater in a summer month than it is in the driest winter month. An EF climate: has no month with an average temperature above 0°C, Ice Cap. In general, climate boundaries: are broad transition zones and not sharp lines. The latitude of a place is important for its climate since latitude determines: Sun’s radiation receipt. On climate diagrams for the southern hemisphere, the coldest months are in July and August. Also keep the above in mind when thinking about when max precipitation occurs in an area. Look at the temperature on a climate diagram when determining if an area is at low latitude. Usually the windward side of a mountain range gets more precipitation. Near the equator, locations have a greater daily rang in temperature than yearly change. Reflection, refraction and diffraction all cause light to change its: direction of the lite. Before sunlight interacts with the atmosphere, it is this color: white. The phenomenon that results from the speed of light changing as it passes into different substances is: refraction. Light bends because of a change in the: velocity. Earth's atmosphere is able to gradually refract light rays: because of the changing density of air as you get closer to the surface.

These atmospheric properties are most important concerning whether mirages will be seen: temperature change with height. Red light travels the fastest and is therefore bent the least. These are the primary optical phenomena causing a rainbow: refraction and reflection. The interpretation of a halo around the Moon is a sign of impending rain (or snow) stems from: the association of cirrus clouds with cyclonic storms. The halo is produced by refraction caused by ice crystals. If the Sun were 'turned off' and ceased to provide heat for the Earth: Winds and ocean currents would stop. Low sun angles result in reduced solar energy because: energy is spread over a larger area. Transpiration is: the process by which plants release water into the atmosphere. As liquid water is evaporated into the atmosphere, heat energy is: absorbed by the evaporating water. The heat released when water vapor condenses to form a cloud or when liquid droplets freeze in a cloud: helps the cloud to rise higher. Frost that forms on cold glass is created by the process of: deposition. Water vapor constitutes about this much of the atmosphere by volume: 0-4 percent Rising air parcel cool off, because they expand. The moist adiabatic rate is different from the dry adiabatic rate because: latent heat is released inside a parcel of rising saturated air. An air parcel rises over a mountain and cools adiabatically due to orographic lifting. Lake effect snow is due to continental polar air being modified. Marine polar air masses have the greatest effect on the western side of the United States. cP and cA are dry air masses. The properties of air masses change as they move from their source regions. When an air masses is warmer than the surface it is moving over, generally an inversion results....