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Seasons, Atmosphere and Climate Study Guide
1. Describe Earth’s atmosphere. Mostly nitrogen with 21% oxygen
2. What are the two highest layers of the atmosphere? Mesosphere and thermosphere
3. What is energy transferred as electromagnetic waves? Radiation
4. What is energy transferred as heat through a material? Conduction
5. What is thermal energy transferred by the circulation of a liquid or gas? Convection
6. What causes wind? Differences in air pressure
7. What causes differences in air pressure around the Earth? Warm air rises at the equator and cold
air sinks at the poles
8. What are the large circular patterns that air moves in? convection cells
9. In the Northern Hemisphere, why do winds appear to be curving to the east? Coriolis Effect
10. What are the global winds that blow northeast from 30° north latitude and southeast from 30°
south latitude? Trade winds
11. What are narrow belts of winds that can reach 400km/h? jet stream
12. What are local winds produced from? Local geographical features
13. What causes mountain and valley breezes? Differences in temperature and elevation
14. What is air pollution? When the atmosphere is contaminated by pollutants from human and
natural sources
15. What is the atmosphere? A mixture of gases
16. Why is air pressure greatest at the Earth’s surface? Gravity pulls gas molecules toward the surface
17. What layer is the ozone in? stratosphere
18. What causes the change in the seasons? The tilt of the Earth
19. Prevailing winds that travel to a region across a large body of water would make the regions
climate? Wetter
20. Why does one side of a mountain usually have more precipitation that the other side? Mountains
force air to rise, and air cools and releases moisture as it rises.
21. Explain why nighttime land breezes occur in areas close to the ocean. At night, land cools quicker
than water. Air moves from the land to the ocean and causes a land breeze.
22. What are two things Earth’s atmosphere does for people? It contains oxygen we need to breathe
and it protects us against the sun’s harmful rays.
23. What season is it in the Northern Hemisphere when it is spring in the Southern Hemisphere? Fall
24. Why are the poles colder than the equator? At the poles, the sun’s rays strike the Earth’s surface
at a less direct angle than a the equator, and the same amount of solar energy is spread over a
larger area.
25. Suppose the stratosphere became covered in a thick blanket of volcanic dust. How would this
affect the temperature of the air in the troposphere? The temperature in the troposphere would drop.
If the stratosphere was covered in a layer of volcanic dust, less of the sun’s radiation would reach the
Earth’s surface, and less heat would be produced.
a. temperate
b. polar
c. tropical
26._____ 26. __C__ climate zone located between 0° and 23.5°N
27. 27. __A__ climate zone located between 23.5°S and 56.5°S
28. 28. _B___ climate zone located north of 56.5°N