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Chaper 14 vocabulary
Vocabulary words
Term | Definition |
---|---|
climate | the long-term average weather conditions that occur in a particular region |
rain shadow | an area of low rainfall on the down-wind slope of a mountain |
specific heat | the amount of thermal energy needed to raise the temperature of 1kg of material 1C |
mircoclimate | a localized climate that is different from the climate of the larger area surrounding it. |
ice age | a period of time when a large portion of Earth's surface is covered in glaciers |
interglacial | a warm period that occurs during an ice age or between ice ages |
En Nino/ Southern Oscillation | the combined ocean and atmospheric cycle that results in weakened trade winds across the Pacific Ocean |
monsoon | a wind circulation pattern that changes direction with the seasons |
drought | a period of below-average precipitation |
global warming | an increase in the average temperature of Earth's surface |
greenhouse gas | a gas in the atmosphere that absorbs Earth's outgoing infared radiation |
deforestation | the removal of large areas of forests of human purposes |
global climate model | a set of complex equations used to predict future climates |