| Term | Definition |
|---|
| absolute humidity | the ratio of the mass of water vapor to the volume of air in which it is present.(g/m^3) |
| clouds | a suspended mass of water vapor in the atmosphere. Clouds can be categorized into two general groups: cumulus clouds (tall, cotton ball) and stratus clouds (layered); these can be divided even further to 4 sub-groups describing altitude: 20,000 ft and above are the cirrus or cirro clouds (cirrocumulus, cirrostratus), composed of mostly ice crystals; from 6,500 to 20,000ft are the alto clouds (altostratus, altocumulus); Low clouds develop up to 6,500ft (stratocumulus, nimbostratus) ,can contact the ground and when they do so, are called fog; existing at many heights, extending far from their bases are the Vertical clouds, such as the cumulus (Cumulonimbus clouds, can have their base near the ground yet reach heights of 75,000ft.) |
| El Ni–o | warming of surface waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific that brings about strange anomolous weather patterns to the coastal regions. Certain economical and ecological disasters can be linked to this phenomena |
| frost | water that has condensed at a temperature below the freezing point |
| green house effect | process in which green house gases, like carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, cause thermal radiation emitted by the Earth's surface to be reflected back down, therefore causing the climate to warm. This natural process is enhanced by man's added pollutants and can reach proportions at which a number of animal and plant species can be threatened with extinction, not to mention cause drastic changes in the Earth's natural weather patterns |
| dew point | the certain temperature at which dew begins to form and water vapor chages to liquid form |
| barometer | tool for measuring atmospheric pressure |
| haze | a concentration near the surface of the Earth, of fine particles (wet or dry dust, salt, etc.,) |
| hydrosphere | all the components of water present on the Earth, including bodies of water, water vapor, ice, etc. |
| jet stream | high speed air flow in the atmosphere forming air rivers several hundred miles across that generally move west to east and mark the boundary that separates two global air masses with significant differences in temperature |
| mesosphere | atmospheric layer above the stratosphere (50-85 km altitude) |
| low (low pressure system) | area with lower atmospheric pressure than its surrounding areas; this makes air from surrounding areas to flow into the low, the end result of which is probably cloudiness and precipitation |
| stratosphere | region between the troposphere and mesosphere, extending from 10 to 30 miles above the Earth's surface |
| temperature | measure of the quantity of thermal energy in a substance. High temperature indicates more heat energy than low temperature |
| ozone | gaseous form of oxygen that constitutes less than one part per million of the gases in the atmosphere, yet absorbs most of the ultraviolet radiation which has been proven to be harmful to humans as well as other life forms on Earth |
| gulf stream | ocean current flowing along the coast of the Eastern United States to Ireland, Great Britain, and the Scandivanian countries, making the latter three warmer than they otherwise would be |
| mesopause | the uppermost boundary of the mesosphere with the lowest temperature in the atmosphere |
| sea breeze | wind blowing from the ocean to land at the coast, due to the cool air replacing the warmer air that has moved up on the coastline |
| humidity | is the quantity of water vapor in the air. Relative humidity is the ration between the actual quantity of watervapor and the amount of watervapor that the air can hold at a given temperature |
| Fahrenheit | temperature scale in which water boils at 212 ?F and freezes at 32 ?F under standard atmospheric pressure; named after the designer of the scale, the German scientist Gabriel Fahrenheit |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace