Chapter 11 Questions
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8 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Distinguish between weather and climate. | 1. Weather refers to the state of the atmosphere for a short period of time. It is constantly changing. By contrast, climate is an aggregate or composite of weather based on many years of weather records. It represents a more enduring regime. Although they are not identical, both are expressed in terms of the same elements: temperature, moisture, pressure, and wind. |
| List the basic elements of weather and climate. | 2. The elements of weather and climate are those quantities or properties that are measured regularly and include: a) air temperature, b) humidity, c) type and amount of clouds, d) type and amount of precipitation, e) air pressure, and f) wind speed and direction. |
| a. Why is the ozone so important? b. What are CFC's and what is their connection to the ozone problem? c. What is the most serious threat to human health of a decrease in the stratosphere's ozone? | 5. (a) Ozone is very important to life on Earth because it absorbs damaging ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. If ozone were not present, our planet would be uninhabitable for most life as we know it. (b) CFCs is an abbreviation for chlorofluorocarbons, a group of chemicals sometimes used as propellants for aerosol sprays, and in the production of certain plastics and refrigeration equipment. When CFCs reach the stratosphere, chlorine atoms react with the ozone, converting some of it into oxygen. The net effect is depletion of the ozone layer. (c) The most serious threat to human health of a decrease in the stratosphere's ozone will probably be an increase in the incidence of skin cancer. |
| Why do temperatures rise in the stratosphere? | 8. The ozone layer is located in the stratosphere. The ozone layer absorbs ultraviolet light and converts it to heat energy that is radiated to the surrounding atmosphere. |
| Briefly explain the primary cause of the seasons. | 9. The seasons occur because Earth's axis is inclined and remains parallel with itself during the revolution of Earth about the Sun. The result is that the intensity and duration of sunlight, and hence atmospheric heating, varies throughout the year at any particular place. |
| Distinguish amontg the three basic mechanisms of heat transfer. | 12. Conduction is the transfer of heat through matter by molecular activity, whereas convection refers to heat transferred by mass movement within a substance. Radiation, the method of heat transfer between the Sun and Earth, is the transfer of heat through space by electromagnetic waves. |
| Quito, Ecuador, is located on the equator and is not a coastal city. It has an average annual temperature of only 55 degree F. What is the likely cause for this low temperature? | 18. The low average temperature is due to the fact that Quito is located high in the Andes Mountains. |
| In what ways can geographic position be considered a control of temperature? | 19. The main factor the geographical position determines is the relationship between the location and the ocean. If the position is near the coast and gets winds off the ocean then that location will tend to have cool summers and mild winters compared to a location blocked from the ocean by a mountain range. |
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