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weather pt.1 vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| mesosphere | the middle layer of the atmosphere;51-85 km;coldest layer; this is where meters burn up |
| air pressure | the measure of the force with which air molecules push on a surface |
| altitude | elevation (height) above sea level |
| troposphere | lowest layer of earths atmosphere 0-17 km above earths surface site of weather organisms,contains atmospheric water vapor. |
| stratosphere | 2nd layer of atmosphere extends from 10 to 30 miles up;location of ozone layer;absorbs 95% of ultraviolet radiation; temperature increases with altitude increase. |
| thermosphere | the 4th layer of the atmosphere, in which temperature increases as altitude increases |
| exosphere | the outer layer of the thermosphere, extending outward into space |
| atmospheric gases | nitrogen makes up 78%,21%oxygen, and remaining 1% is carbon dioxide,water vapor and other gasses |
| nitrogen | most abundant gas in the atmosphere |
| oxygen | gas that makes up 21% of the air in earths atmosphere it passes into the blood stream at the lungs and travels to all body cells |
| carbon dioxide | a green house gas: a gas that obsorbs and radiates the heart |
| trace gases | gasses such as hydrogyn helium, carbon dioxide and argon that exist in very small quanities in the atmosphere |
| water vapor | water in the form of a gas |
| fossil fuels | a natural substance formed in the buried of ancient organisms that can be used as a source of energy |
| greenhouse gases | gasses in earths atmosphere that trap heat near the surface |
| water cycle | the continuous process in which water moves from earths surface to the atmosphere and back |
| evaporation | the change of a substance from a liquid to gas |
| condensation | the change from a gas to a liquid |
| precipitation | any type of water that falls from clouds and reaches earths surface (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist) |
| transpiration | evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant |
| crystillization | the process by which a substance becomes a solid sort of like freezing |
| surface runoff | water that flows over land until it reaches a lake,river or other areas |
| groundwater flow | water that is flowing beneath earths surface |
| dew | water that has condensed on a cool surface over night from a water vapor in the air |
| frost | ice formed when water vapor changes directly into ice crystals |
| ozone | part of earths upper atmosphere it protects people by obsorbing harmful rays from the sun |
| greenhouse effect | a warming of earths surface and the air above it. it is caused by gasses in the air that trap energy from the sun. |