Atmosphere: Chapter 12 & 13 Test
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50 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Layers of Atmosphere | troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere |
| UV Radiation | A powerful energy source |
| Electromagnetic Spectrum | The entire frequency range of electromagnetic waves |
| Air Pollution | When harmful substances build up in the air to unhealthy levels |
| Pollution | Substances that are harmful to living organisms or by excessive wastes, heat, noise, or radiation |
| Primary Pollutant | A pollutant that is put directly into the atmosphere by human or natural activity |
| Secondary Pollutant | A pollutant that forms in the atmosphere by chemical reaction with primary air pollutants, natural components in the air, or both |
| Emissions | Gases released into the air, especially by cars and factories |
| Smog | When air pollution hangs over urban areas and reduces visibility |
| Temperature Inversion | When the air above is warmer than the air below |
| Carbon Monoxide | (CO) An important component of the exhaust in vehicles, an odorless very poisonous gas that is a product of incomplete combustion of carbon |
| Nitrogen Oxides | (NO) When combustion (burning) temperatures exceed 538˚C, nitrogen and oxygen combine |
| Sulfur Dioxide | (SO2) Produced by chemical interactions between sulfur and oxygen |
| Volatile Organic Compounds | Organic chemicals that evaporate readily and exist as gases in the air |
| Particulate Matter | Atmospheric Pollutant |
| Catalytic Converter | A device used to control emissions from most American vehicles |
| Air Scrubbers | A machine that moves gases through a spray of water that dissolves many pollutants |
| Zero-Emission Vehicle | A program in 1990 to encourage the development of less-polluting vehicles |
| Radon | A colorless, tasteless, odorless gas that is radioactive |
| Formaldehyde | A colorless gas that has a strong odor |
| Clean Air Act | Gives the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) the authority to regulate vehicle emissions in the US |
| Asbestos | Any of six silicate minerals that form bundles of minute fibers that are heat resistant, flexible, and durable |
| Light Pollution | Unnecessary lights that are pointing upward and wasting energy |
| Sound Pollution | Unwanted sound and damages our hearing by destroying cells in our ears |
| Decibels | Measurement of intensity of sound |
| Weather | State of the atmosphere at a particular place at a particular moment |
| Climate | Long-term prevailing weather conditions at a particular place based on records taken |
| Latitude | Distance from equator |
| Oblique | Neither parallel nor at a right angle to a specified or implied line |
| Wind | Warm air rises and cool air moves to replace it |
| Prevailing Winds | Winds that blow predominantly in one direction throughout the year |
| Windward | Facing the wind or on the side facing the wind |
| Leeward | On or toward the side sheltered from the wind or toward which the wind is blowing; downwind |
| El Nino | Southern Oscillation; a periodic occurrence in the eastern Pacific Ocean in which the surface-water temperature becomes unusually warm |
| La Nina | A periodic occurrence in the easter Pacific Ocean in which the surface-water becomes unusually cool |
| Topography | The arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area |
| Seasons | Each of the four divisions of the year (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter) |
| Ice Cores | A cylinder that contains ice that has trapped atmosphere's gases from years before |
| Ozone Layer | An area in the stratosphere where ozone is highly concentrated |
| Chlorofluorocarbon(CFC) | Human made chemicals |
| Ozone Hole | A thinning of stratosphere ozone that occurs over the poles during the Spring |
| Polar Stratospheric Clouds | Forms when high-altitude clouds made of water and nitric fall below -80˚C |
| Montreal Protocol | Nations agree to take action against ozone depletion |
| Ozone (Good and Bad) | Good in stratosphere and bad in troposphere |
| Greenhouse Effect | Gases in the troposphere allow much of the sun's solar radiation into the troposphere, but trap some of the heat radiation coming off earth |
| Greenhouse Gases | Absorb and radiate heat (NO, H20, CO2, CH4, CFCs) |
| Keeling Graph | Graph showing the variation in concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1958. It is based on continuous measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii |
| Global Warming | The increase in Earth's temperature |
| Kyoto Protocol | An international treaty according to which developed countries that signed the treaty agree to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that may contribute to global warming by 2012 |
| IPCC | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
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