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Science
Ch. 6 vocab
Question | Answer |
---|---|
weather - | the condition of the atmosphere as it is affected by temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind, and water. |
air mass - | a large body of air with consistent temperature and moisture content throughout |
wind - | the horizontal movement of air that occurs as a result of pressure differences between two air masses. |
thermal - | a small, upward flow of warm air. |
convection cells - | large wind patterns in Earth’s atmosphere caused by convection. |
Coriolis effect - | the bending of currents of air or water due to Earth’s rotation. |
meteorologist - | an individual who uses scientific principles to forecast the weather. |
dew point - | the temperature at which more water condenses than evaporates in an air mass at a constant atmospheric pressure. |
cloud - | a group of water droplets or ice crystals that you can see in the atmosphere. |
front - | the border between two different air masses. |
cold front - | a front that occurs when a cold air mass moves in and replaces a warm air mass. |
warm front - | a front that occurs when a warm air mass moves in and replaces a cold air mass. |
jet streams - | high-altitude, fast moving winds. |
low-pressure center - | a low-pressure area created by rising warm air. |
high-pressure center - | a high-pressure area created by sinking cold air. |
isobar - | a line on a weather map that connects places that have the same atmospheric pressure. |
storm cell - | a convection cell within a cloud that is associated with a storm. |
lightning - | a bright spark of light that occurs inside a storm cloud, between a cloud and Earth’s surface, or between two clouds. |
thunder - | a sound that occurs when a lightning spark heats air and the air expands. |
cyclone - | a low-pressure center surrounded by rotating winds. |
hurricane - | a tropical cyclone with wind speeds of at least 74 miles per hour (119 kilometers per hour). |
tornado - | a system of rotating winds around a low-pressure center; a tornado is smaller than a hurricane, but has faster winds. |
climate - | the long-term record of weather patterns and includes the temperature, precipitation, and wind for a region. |
biome - | a major climate region with particular plants and animals. Earth has six major biomes. |
desert - | a climate region that averages less than 35 centimeters of rainfall per year. |
grasslands - | climate regions with too little rainfall to support a forest. Grasslands have grasses as the main vegetation. |
temperate deciduous forests | climate regions in the midlatitudes that have four seasons. |
tropical rainforests - | climate regions found near the equator that have a lot of rainfall and high biodiversity. |
taiga - | the largest climate region, found in the higher latitudes; also known as a boreal or coniferous forest. |
tundra - | a climate region located in high latitudes; the coldest land biome. |