Atmosphere

The way temperature changes with altitude in rising or falling air.

A tiny liquid droplet or tiny solid particle so small it remains suspended in the air.

The invisible, odorless mixture of gases and suspended particles that surrounds the earth.

The force exerted by the weight of overlying air.

The mixture of gases, predominantly nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor that surrounds the Earth.

Fine, wispy or feathery clouds formed high in the troposphere, and composed entirely of ice crystals.

Visible aggregations of minute water droplets, tiny ice crystals, or both.

The formation of a more ordered liquid from a less ordered gas.

Puffy, globular, individual clouds that form when hot, humid air rises convectively and reaches a level of condensation.

The temperature at which the relative humidity reaches 100 percent and condensation starts.

The process by which a liquid is converted to its vapor.

The amount of water vapor in the air.

One of the four thermal layers of the atmosphere, lying above the stratosphere.

The boundaries that separate the four principal thermal layers of he atmosphere.

The process by which condensed water gathers into droplets or particles and falls under the pull of gravity.

One of four thermal layers of the atmosphere, lying above the troposphere and reaching a maximum of about 50km.

Uniform dull grey clouds with a cloud base less than two km above sea level.

One of the four thermal layers of the atmosphere, reaching out to about 500km.

One of the four thermal layers of the atmosphere, which extends from the surface of the Earth to variable altitudes of 10 to 16 km.

Large volume of air with a fairly homogeneous internal temperature and humidity.

The average weather conditions of a place or area over a period of years.

The coming together of air masses, caused by the inward spiral flow in a cyclone and leading to an upward flow of air at the center of the low pressure center.

Air spiral inward around a low-pressure center.

Arid land, whether "deserted" or not, in which annual rainfall is less that 250mm or in which he evaporation rate exceeds the precipitation rate.

The separation of air masses in different directions, cause by the outward spiral flow in an anticyclone and leading to an outward flow of air from the center or a high-pressure center.

Below average rainfall in a region for an extended period of time.

A periodic climatic variation in which trade winds slacken and surface waters of the central and eastern Pacific become anomalously warm.

A tropical cyclonic storm with wind speeds that exceed 119km/hr.

Places of equal air pressure.

The drop in air pressure per unit of distance.

Updrafts of warm, humid, air (a cell) that release a lot of latent heat very quickly and become unstable.

Violent windstorm produced by a spiraling column of air that extends downward from a cumulonimbus cloud.

The state of the atmosphere at a given time and place

Horizontal air movement arising from differences in air pressure.

The average weather conditions of a place or area over a period of years.

Causes that result in climate change.

Records of past natural events that are influenced by, and closely mimic, climate.

The separation and differential concentration of isotopes of slightly different masses.

An interval of time when Earth's global ice cover greatly exceeded that of today.

A time in the past when both the climate and global ice cover were similar to those of today.

A system using the distribution of native vegetation types, based on the premise that vegetation is the best indicator of climate.

The interval of generally cool climate between the middle thirteenth and middle nineteenth centuries

An episode of relatively mild climate during the Middle Ages.

The combined influences of astronomical factors that produce changes in Earth's climate.

Climate of the ancient past.

Energy derived from plant life.

A black, combustible, sedimentary of metamorphic rock consisting chiefly of decomposed plant matter and containing more than 50 percent organic matter.

Petroleum as it emerges from the ground.

Layers of salt that precipitate as a consequence of evaporation.

Controlled radioactive transformation.

Remains of plants and animals trapped in sediment that may be used for fuel.

The merging of the nuclei of lightweight chemical elements, particularly hydrogen  to form heavier elements such as helium and carbon.

Heat energy drawn from the Earth's internal heat.

Organic compounds that contain hydrogen and form carbon-hydrogen bonds.

Power captured from the kinetic energy of a flowing stream of water.

The process by which organic matter is transformed into various forms of petroleum.

Any volume of rock containing an enrichment of one or more minerals.

The set of processes by which useful resources are withdrawn from the stock of non-renewable resource.

Naturally occurring hyrdo-carbon that is gaseous at ordinary temperature and pressure.

Alternative energy sources based on new and developing technologies.

Energy released by the controlled breakdown of a large radioactive isotopes into two or more smaller isotopes.

The liquid form of petroleum.

Fine-grained sedimentary rock containing much bituminous organic matter.

An aggregate of minerals from which one or more minerals can be extracted profitably.

Gaseous, liquid, and semi-solid substances occurring naturally and consisting chiefly of chemical compounds of carbon and hydrogen.

The portion of a resource that has been identified and is economically extractable using current technologies.

Power derived from electromagnetic energy radiated by the sun.

Thick, dense, asphalt-like oil that cements sand grains together.

Power derived from the kinetic energy involved in the movement of water during the rise and fall of tides.

Power drawn from the kinetic energy of waves.

Power drawn from the kinetic energy of wind.

Human contributions to the greenhouse effect.

Synthetic industrial gases that cause the breakdown of ozone in the stratosphere.

Corals turning white due to sickness or death, as a result of stressful changes in their aquatic environment.

The collective effects of local and regional environmental impacts eventually reaching global proportions.

The invasion of desert into nondesert areas.

A mathematical model used to simulate present and past climate conditions on the Earth.

The changes produced in the Earth system as a result of human activities.

A relationship that expresses  that human impact (I) on the environment as a function of population (P), consumption and waste generation (A), and technology (T).

A region centered above the poles in which the ozone content of the stratosphere has been severely reduced.

Fog caused by the accumulation in the lower troposphere of ozone, nitrous oxides, and carbon bearing compounds.

The concept that if the potential consequences of an anticipated event are unacceptable severe, those in authority have a responsibility to take action to avoid or mitigate those consequences.