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What are the three important cycles in the atmosphere?
- Water Cycle
- Nitrogen Cycle
- Oxygen/Carbon Dioxide Cycle
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Why is water a universal solvent?
It has strong polarity (charged at opposite ends)
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What is an example of a non polar material?
Ethane
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What is waters liquid range?
0-212
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What material/substance has a nice range for organic chemistry?
Water
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Really cold water can't _______
Stay at the bottom
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What are 4 unique things about water?
- Universal solvent
- Significant liquid range
- Most dense a few degrees above the freezing point
- High heat capacity
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How does water stores __________ really well
Heat energy
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What are 2 proofs that water is most dense a few degrees above the freezing point?
- Really cold water can't stay at the bottom
- Ice floats
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What is water essential for?
- Organisms
- Environment
- Atmosphere
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What is a specific name for when water holds heat in the atmosphere?
The greenhouse effect
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What is the specific name for when water holds heat in the oceans?
Lake effect
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What percentage of the atmosphere is water vapor?
0-4%
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What does lake effect do to the region affected?
- More moisture
- Moderation of climate
- Reigns in extremes
- Slows down initial blooms
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What percentage of tart cherries in the world does MI produce?
85%
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What percentage of the worlds blueberry production does MI produce?
20%
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In apple production, Michigan is ___ in the nation
3rd
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In grape production, MI is ____ in the nation.
What about greenhouse/nursery production?
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What percentage of the atmosphere is nitrogen gas?
78%
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What is the symbol for nitrogen gas?
N2
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What is nitrogen gas essential for?
Protein synthesis
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Protein molecules are the essential unit of ____ and ____ in all living things
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Nitrogen cycles through the ______
Atmosphere
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What percentage of the atmosphere is oxygen gas?
21%
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What is oxygen essential for?
Energy consumption
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Where does oxygen play a part in energy consumption?
- In animals
- In combustion engines
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What is the symbol for oxygen gas?
O2
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Oxygen cycles through the _______
Atmosphere
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What is a polar vortex?
A persistent, large scale cyclone located near the Earth's poles
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Where in the atmosphere is the polar vortex located?
In the middle and upper troposphere and the stratosphere
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What has the polar vortex created?
An ozone depletion or hole over Antarctica
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What is ozone?
A blue gas with a strong odor
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Where and how is ozone made?
In the upper atmosphere, out of Oxygen atoms
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__________ tears oxygen molecules (O2) into oxygen atoms
UV light
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What do oxygen molecules exsist as?
Clear odorless gas
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An oxygen atom joins a ____ molecule to form _____ (____)
- Oxygen (O2) forms ozone (O3)
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Out of every 10 million atmosphere molecules, how many are O2? How many are O3?
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What does ozone reemit UV electromagnetic radation as?
Infrared radiation
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When ozone absorbs UV radiation and turns it into infrared radation, what does this process do?
It heats the atmosphere around the ozone layer in the upper stratosphere
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What seems do be the trend in ozone levels?
Mainly downward, but over the past 20 years, we can see that there is a seasonal trend as well.
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When is ozone generation less effective?
At lower temperatures.
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What does warmer weather prevent?
Ozone deterioration
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What contributes to ozone depletion?
Volcanos
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How do volcanos contribute to ozone depletion?
- By pumping hydrogen sulfide into the air
- By pumping aerosols into the air
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Which has a shorter life span, H2S or CFC's?
H2S (Hydrogen Sulfide)
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What is H2F's lifespan?
About 3 years, and H2F has only a short term effect.
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What is CFC-12's lifespan?
102 years
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What is CFC-11's lifespan?
55 years
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What kind of particles do aerosols have?
Micro millimeters spherical particles
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What do aerosals act as?
A catalytic surface for CFC produced chlorine molecules to deteriorate ozone
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What is the magnetosphere?
The area above the earth where the Earth's magnetic field operates
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At what height does the magnetosphere start?
1000 km
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On the Sun side, how high up does the magnetosphere extend to?
Extends to about 4000 km
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On which side does the magnetosphere extend farther, the sun side, or the dark side?
The dark side
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Why does the magnetosphere extend farther on the dark side?
Solar winds make the difference
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What is the solar wind?
A stream of high speed charged particles
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What is the sun's atmosphere?
A plasma
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How fast do the solar winds travel?
450km/sec or more (2 or 3 days)
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What does the solar wind consist of?
Protons and electrons
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What are the Van Allen Radiation Belts?
2 belts of high energy particles trapped by earths magnetic field
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What does the smaller inner Van Allen Radiation Belt consist of?
High energy protons
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What does the larger outer Van Allen Radiation Belt consist of?
High energy electrons
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What is weather?
The state of atmospheric conditions in an area
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What causes changes in weather?
Air movements in the troposphere
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What makes the air warm?
- Not the sun directly.
- The sun heats the ground, which heats the air.
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What are air movements due to?
Uneven heating of the earth's surface by the Sun.
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Why does the Earth heat unevenly?
- It is curved.
- Its surface is made of different materials.
- The earth is spinning on its axis
- The earth is revolving around the sun
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When the Earth revolves around the Sun, what else is happening? (Other characteristics.)
- It is tilted on its axis.
- It is following an elliptical path.
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What does uneven heating of the Earth's surface cause? (4)
- Temperature--as air warms temp rises
- Capacity to hold water increases
- Density--decreases with temp
- Pressure--increases with density
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What is a barometer?
A device used to measure the pressure of air
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What indicates a changing air mass?
A changing barometric pressure
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What does atmospheric air pressure determine?
- Weather patterns
- Fronts
- Precipitation
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When does atmospheric air pressure rapidly decrease?
With altitude
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At sea level, what is the atmospheric pressure?
At an altitude of 5.5 km?
- 1000 millibars (mb)
- 500 mb
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What influences air pressure?
Temperature
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when air molecules are spread furthur apart, what happens?
- There is a lower density=lower gravitational attraction
- Lower pressure
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When colder air molecules are closer, what happens?
- Higher density=higher gravitational attraction
- Higher pressure
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What do changes in air pressure indicate?
Weather changes in air masses over a given area
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What means stormy weather?
Increasing air pressure.
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What means fair weather?
Declining air pressure
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What is an air mass?
Relatively uniform (horizontally) in its temperature and relative humidity over a large region.
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what are air masses developed by?
The surface features they form over.
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Continental tropical air is _____ and ____
Continental polar air is _____ and ____
Maritime tropical air is _____ and ______
Maritime polar air is _____ and ______
- 1. warm and dry
- 2. cool and dry
- 3. warm and humid
- 4. cool and humid
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What is the point where air masses meet?
Front
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What is air masss identified by?
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What determines temperature and humidity?
The surface that they form over
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Where do Continental Tropical air masses form over?
Southern Lands
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Where do Continental Polar masses form over?
Northern Lands
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Where do Maritime Tropical masses form?
over Southern Seas
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Where do Maritime Polar masses form?
Over Northern Seas
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What is a cold front?
A cold air mass.
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What are 5 things associated with cold fronts?
- Brief intense rain
- Lightning
- Hail
- Strong Winds
- Tornados
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What are tornados?
Cyclones of rising warm air. They rotate counter clockwise.
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What is the scale used to rate tornados?
Fujita scale F (0-5)
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What are the two ways that tornados do damage?
- Winds up to 250mph
- Low pressure
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what are the wind speeds of F2s?
- Up to 157 mph
- (A cat 5 hurricane starts at 155 mph)
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what does a warm front bring?
It is slow moving, and brings a light steady rain.
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What is an occluded front?
Cold air mass catches up with a warm air mass.
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What happens when the sun light shines on the surface of the Earth?
- 1. visible light is absorbed (by the surface)
- 2. Infrared radiation is emitted (by land)
- 3. Air is warmed (by land)
- 4. Warm air expands
- 5. Expanding air rises
- 6. Expanding air cools
- 7. When air cools to form dew point, clouds form
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What happens as air cools?
It loses its capacity to hold water
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When the capacity to hold water decreases, what happens?
- Clouds form when the air reaches the dew point temperature
- Relative humidity increases
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What are the 3 main types of clouds?
-
What does nimbo mean? Alto?
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What is a super cell?
A cumulus cloud that has grown very large?
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What kind of clouds are not associated with a front?
Super cells
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How many Super Cells produce tornadoes?
3 in 10
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What is a Hurricane?
A low pressure storm system that forms over tropical seas.
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What must be the temperature of the ocean for a hurricane to form?
80oF to 150 feet
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How are hurricanes powered?
by heat released from water condensation
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How far from the equator must hurricanes be to start spinning?
300 miles
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How are hurricanes formed?
- Low pressure air is warm and lifts moisture.
- Water condenses on dew point dust.
- Condensing water releases heat.
- Expands air furthur.
- Decreases pressure further.
- Increasing winds increase surface evaporation.
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Where are winds strongest in a hurricane?
Closest to the eye.
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What is a storm surge?
Low pressure, waves due to wind, high tides
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What is dew?
When water condenses on surface features that are at the dew point temp.
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What is fog?
Dew on dust in the air near the ground--a type of cloud
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What is a cloud?
Dew on dust in the air
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What is rain?
Dew on the dust that gets so heavy, it falls from the sky
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What is sleet?
Raindrops that fall from a cloud and freeze before they hit the ground.
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What is freezing rain?
The ground is at freezing temps and rain falls and freezes
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What is frost?
water crystals growing on surface features?
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What are cirrus clouds?
Frost on dust way up high.
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