Earth Science - Weather and Climate

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climate
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Terms in this set (30)
climate
long-term average of weather in an area
continental climate
type of temperate climate over land
maritime climate
type of temperate climate near an ocean or sea
polar
dry, cold climate zone above 60 degree latitude
subtropical climate zone
hot, often dry, climate zone between 25 and 30 degrees latitude, north or south of the equator
temperate climate zone
seasonably variable climate zone between 40 and 60 degrees latitude, north or south of the equator
tropical climate zone
warm, moist climate zone near the equator
weather
day-to-day changes in atmospheric conditions, including temperature, air pressure, humidity, wind, cloud coverage, or precipitation
air mass
large body of air with uniform temperature and humidity
cyclone
a severe storm in a circular motion
frontwhere two different air masses meetsource regionarea over which an air mass formsconvectionprocess of heat transfer by the circulation or movement of a liquid or a gashumiditymoisture in the airjet streamfast moving stream of wind where cold, polar air meets warm air from the equatortranspirationthe process of plants releasing moisture from their leaveseccentricitythe shape of Earth's orbit about the Sun; can change from a more elliptical to a more circular path and backMilankovitch cycleschanges in Earth's orbit and tilt that occur every 100,000 years; believed to be responsible for past ice agesobliquityEarth's tiltupwellingwhen wind allows cold dense water to rise from the bottom of the ocean to the surfacedroughta long period of unusually dry weatherwind shearwhen winds change direction and speed up into the atmosphere; when 2 winds in opposite directions meet causing potential extreme weatheranemometeran instrument that measures wind speedbarometeran instrument measures air pressureDoppler effecta change in the frequency of sound or light waves that can be used to determine the direction of movement of a wave sourceDoppler radarmeasures the location and strength of precipitationhygrometerinstrument that measures humiditypsychrometerinstrument that measures relative humidity using a pair of dry bulb and wet bulb thermometersrelative humiditya percentage of the maximum amount of water vapor the air can hold at its current temperaturewind vanemeasures wind direction