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science vocabulary
Atmasphere
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Atmosphere | the gaseous envelope surrounding the earth; the air. |
Stratosphere | the second layer of Earth's atmosphere |
Troposphere | the lowest layer of the atmosphere |
Thermosphere | the region of the upper atmosphere in which temperature increases continuously with altitude |
Air pressure | the force exerted by air, |
Radiation | the process in which energy is emitted as particles or waves. |
Thermal conduction | Transfer of heat energy resulting from differences in temperature between adjacent bodies or adjacent parts of a body. |
Convection | the movement caused within a fluid by the tendency of hotter and therefore less dense material to rise, and colder, denser material to sink under the influence of gravity, which consequently results in transfer of heat. |
Global warming | a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants. |
Greenhouse effect | he trapping of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the planet's surface. |
Wind | the perceptible natural movement of the air, especially in the form of a current of air blowing from a particular direction. |
Coriolis effect | an effect whereby a mass moving in a rotating system experiences a forceacting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation. |
Westerlies | a wind blowing from the west |
Trade winds | a wind blowing steadily toward the equator from the northeast in the northern hemisphere or the southeast in the southern hemisphere, especially at sea. |
Polar easterlies | one of the five primary wind zones, known as wind belts, that make up our atmosphere's circulatory system. |
Jet stream | a narrow, variable band of very strong, predominantly westerly air currents encircling the globe several miles above the earth. |
Air pollution | the presence in or introduction into the air of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects. |
Acid precipitation | cid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, |