Ch. 14, p. 402 # 1-3, 5, 7-11, 14, 15

1.  Distiguish between weather and climate.

A.  Weather refers to the state of the atmosphere for a short period of time.  It is constantly changing.  By contrast, climate is a composite of weather based on many years of weather records.  Although they are not the same, both are measured using the same elements below (in #2).

2.  List the basic elements of weather and climate.

A.  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.

3.  What are the two major components of clean, dry air?

A.  Nitrogen (~79%) and oxygen (~21%)

5.  What source is responsible for the most pollution?

A.  It is the burning of fossil fuels (deisel, gasoline) in transportation.

7.  (a)  Why is ozone important to life on Earth?

A.  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)  What is the most serious threat to human health of a decrease in the stratosphere's ozone?

A.  It would probably be an increase in the incidence of skin cancer.

8.  The atmosphere is divided vertically into four layers on the basis of temperature.  List the names of these layers in order (from lowest to highest) and describe how temperature changes in each layer.

A.
troposphere: temperatures decreases with altitude
stratosphere: temperatures increases with altitude
mesosphere: temperatures decreases with altitude
thermosphere: temperatures increases with altitude


9.  Why do temperatures increase in the stratosphere?

A.  Temperatures rise in the stratosphere because ozone, which absorbs ultraviolet radiation, is concentrated in this layer.

10.  Briefly explain the primary cause of the seasons.

A.  The seasons are caused by the yeaerly variation in the altitude of the sun and length of daylight due to the inclination of Earth's axis affecting the amount of solar energy received at Earth's surface.

11.  Briefly explain the primary cause of the seasons.

A.  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.

14.  Distinguish between heat and temperature.

A.  Heat is the total kinetic energy of all the atoms and molecules that make up a substance.  Temperature refers to intensity -- measure of the average kinetic energy of the individual atoms or molecules within a substance.

15.  Describe the three basic mechanisms of heat transfer.

A.  Concduction 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.

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