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Weather and climate
Weather and climate chapter 2 section 1 and 2
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Sea breeze | The flow of air from an ocean or lake to the land. |
Local wind | Winds that blow over short distances. |
Wind-chill factor | Increased cooling caused by the wind. |
Anemometer | An instrument used to measure wind speed. |
Wind | The horizontal movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of lower pressure. |
Latitude | The distance from the equator, measured in degrees |
Coriolis effect | The way Earth’s rotation makes winds in the Northern Hemisphere curve to the right and winds in the Southern Hemisphere curve to the left. |
Global wind | Winds that blow steadily from specific directions over long distances. |
Monsoon | Sea and land breezes over a large region that change direction with the seasons. |
Land breeze | The flow of air from land to a body of water. |
Jet streams | Bands of high-speed winds about 10 kilometers above Earth’s surface. |
Evaporation | The process by which water molecules in liquid water escape into the air as water vapor. |
Relative humidity | The percentage of water vapor in the air compared to the maximum amount the air could hold at that temperature. |
Psychrometer | An instrument used to measure relative humidity, consisting of a wet-bulb thermometer and a dry-bulb thermometer. |
Condensation | The process by which molecules of water vapor in the air become liquid water. |
Humidity | A measure of the amount of water vapor in the air. |
Dew point | The temperature at which condensation begins. |
Cumulus | Clouds that form less than 2 kilometers above the ground and look like fluffy, rounded piles of cotton. |
Stratus | Clouds that form in flat layers. |
Cirrus | Wispy, feathery clouds made mostly of ice crystals that form at high levels, above about 6 kilometers. |