Term
| Amount of oxygen in the atmosphere at the beginning |
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Definition
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Term
| When did oxygen production by cyanobacteria start? |
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Definition
| 2.7 billion years ago, but O^2 didn't rise in the atmosphere. |
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Term
| When was the First Great Oxidation Event? |
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Definition
| 2.4 billion years ago, and O^2 in the atmosphere started to rise. |
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Term
| When was the Second Great Oxidation Event? |
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Definition
| 600 million years ago, and it marks the second rapid increase of O^2 in the atmosphere. |
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Term
| What is the composition of the modern atmosphere? |
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Definition
| 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 1% other gases; water and dust |
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Term
| How is atmospheric pressure measured? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the standard pressure at sea level? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the layer of the Earth that we live in, and what is its elevation? |
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Definition
| The Troposphere, and it extends to about 12 km. |
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Term
| Does the temperature in the Troposphere increase or decrease with elevation? |
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Definition
| The temperature changes with altitude, and is mostly heated by the Earth. |
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Term
| What is the layer above the Troposphere, and what is its elevation? |
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Definition
| The Stratosphere, and it extends to 50 km. |
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Term
| Does the temperature increase or decrease in the stratosphere? |
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Definition
| The temperature is constant up to 35 km, and then it increases up to 50 km. It is mostly heated by solar radiation. The ozone forms here. |
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Term
| What is the third layer of the Earth's atmosphere, and what is its elevation? |
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Definition
| The Mesosphere, and it extends to 80 km. |
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Term
| Does the temperature in the Mesosphere increase or decrease? |
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Definition
| The temperature fall here. The air is very thing and cold. |
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Term
| What is the top layer of the Earth's atmosphere, and what is its elevation? |
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Definition
| The Thermosphere, and it extends to 80 km. |
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Term
| Does the temperature increase or decrease in the Thermosphere? |
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Definition
| The temperature in the Thermosphere rises rapidly to just below freezing. High energy reactions occur here. |
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Term
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Definition
| SOx and NOx react with water to form acidic precipitation. |
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Term
| What are some of the efffects of acid rain? |
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Definition
| human harm, property damage, and ecological damage |
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Term
| How does ozone smog form? |
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Definition
| From a reaction of oxygen and nitrogen oxides in sunlight reactin with other components of auto exhaust. |
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Term
| Where do we find the ozone layer in the atmopshere? |
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Definition
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Term
| Why is the ozone important? |
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Definition
| It absorbs high-energy ultraviolet light. |
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Term
| How is the ozone affected by CFCs or halons? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Both as wave and a particle. |
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Term
| What is the speed of light? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| light particles, or little "packets" of energy |
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Term
| What is electromagnetic radiation? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the electromagnetic spectrum? |
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Definition
| the range of all occuring wavelengths and frequencies |
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Term
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Definition
| The number of wave cycles per second (Hertz) |
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Term
| The photon's energy can initiate chemical and /or physical reactions. |
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Definition
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Term
| What do emitted wavelength and color depend on? |
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Definition
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Term
| The Earth absorbs ________ visible light, and emits ________ invisible heat radiation. |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the proportional reflectance of a surface? |
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Definition
| albedo. Ex. smow/ice, clouds, cities |
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Term
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Definition
| gases and particles in the atmosphere |
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Term
| __________ wavelengths scatter more than _________ wavelengths. |
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Definition
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Term
| 50% of incoming ______ reach Earth's surface. |
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Definition
| radiation. most of it is absorbed and reemitted. |
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Term
| What is the greenhouse effect? |
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Definition
| An increase in the temperature of a planet's atmosphere cause when infrared-absorbing gases are introduced into the atmosphere. ie. water vapor, CO2, and methane are greenhouse gases. |
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Term
| Temperature is proportional to the _________ speed of atoms or molecules in a sample. |
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Definition
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Term
| Heat is a measure of the ________ energy in a sample. |
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Definition
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Term
| Transfer of heat by currents in liquid or gas. |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Heat absorbed or released during a change of phase. Energy absorbed and released during changes of state of water is very important for heat balance of atmosphere. |
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Term
| Water has _____ specific heat. |
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Definition
| high. This is important for climate. |
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Term
| The amount of energy required to change the temperature of 1 gram of a material by 1 degree celsius. |
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Definition
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Term
| What decreases as latitude increases? |
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Definition
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Term
| Why do we have seasons on Earth? |
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Definition
| The Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees relative to the Earth-Sun plane. |
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Term
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Definition
| When all locations on Earth get 12 hours each of light and dark. |
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Term
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Definition
| Either of two times a year when the Sun shines directly overhead and is furthest from the equator. The solstices mark the beginnings of summer and winter. |
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Term
| Temperature decreases with elevation |
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Definition
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Term
| Land heats more quickly than water, so inlands see greater temperature extremes. |
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Definition
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Term
| __________ direction affects temperature. |
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Definition
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Term
| ___________ intercept light energy. |
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Definition
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Term
| Mass of water vapor in a given volume of air g/m3. |
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Definition
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Term
| Amount of water vapor relative to the amount the air can hold at a temperature (percentage). |
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Definition
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Term
| Relative humidity of 100% |
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Definition
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Term
| temperature at which saturation occurs |
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Definition
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Term
| What are the three atmospheric processes to cool air? |
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Definition
| radiation cooling, contact cooling, cooling of rising air |
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Term
| Temperature changes that occur without gain or loss of heat. |
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Definition
adiabatic temperature changes.
dry adiabatic lapse rate 10 degrees celsius.
weat adiabatic lapse rate ranges form 5 to 9 degrees. |
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Term
| What are three mechanisms that cause air to rise? |
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Definition
1. Radiation cooling: re-emission of heat (air, water, land become cooler at night.
2. . Contact cooling – dew and frost (dew – condensation caused by moist air contacting a cooler surface – below its dew point) (frost – when that dew point is below freezing, condensate is solid
3. Cooling of rising air – cloud formation from cooling of rising air |
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Term
| What are three mechanisms that cause air to rise? |
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Definition
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