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Unit 11
Weather and Climate
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| water cycle | Movement of water between the atmosphere, land, oceans, and even living things makes up the water cycle. |
| evaporation | evaporation occurs when liquid water changes into water vapor. |
| transpiration | release of water vapor into the air by plants is called transpiration. |
| sublimation | When solid water changes directly to water vapor without first becoming a liquid, it is called sublimation. |
| condensation | condensation is the change of state from a gas to a liquid. |
| precipitation | Precipitationis any form of water that falls to Earth from clouds. |
| weather | Weather is the condition of Earth’s atmosphere at a certain time and place. |
| humidity | The amount of water vapor in the air is called humidity. |
| relative humidity | Relative humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air compared to the amount of water vapor needed to reach saturation. |
| dew point | The dew point is the temperature at which more condensation than evaporation occurs. |
| air pressure | Air pressure is the force of air molecules pushing on an area. |
| wind | Wind is air that moves horizontally, or parallel to the ground. |
| visibility | visibility is a measure of the transparency of the atmosphere |
| air mass | An air mass is a large volume of air in which temperature and moisture content are nearly the same throughout. |
| front | A boundary, called a front, forms between the air masses. |
| jet stream | Long-distance winds that travel above global winds for thousands of kilometers are called jet streams. |
| thunderstorm | A thunderstorm is an intense local storm that forms strong winds, heavy rain, lightning, thunder, and sometimes hail. |
| lighting | Lightning is an electric discharge that happens between a positively charged area and a negatively charged area. |
| thunder | the sound created by the rapid expansion of air along a lightning strike. |
| hurricane | A hurricane is a tropical low-pressure system with winds blowing at speeds of 119 km/h (74 mi/h) or more |
| storm surge | When a hurricane moves into a coastal area, it also pushes a huge mass of ocean water known as a storm surge. |
| tornado | A tornado is a destructive, rotating column of air that has very high wind speeds and that is sometimes visible as a funnel-shaped cloud. |
| sinkhole | Sinkholes are holes in the ground that form when a cave collapses. |
| wildfire | Wildfires are uncontrolled fires burning in natural areas. |
| muck fire | Like dry grass and trees, muck can be ignited easily by a lightning strike. When muck is ignited, a muck fire starts. |
| climate | describes the weather conditions in an area over a long period of time. |
| latitude | Latitude is the angular distance in degrees north and south from the equator. |
| topography | The surface features of an area combine to form its topography. |
| elevation | Elevation refers to the height of an area above sea level. |
| surface currents | The currents on the surface of the ocean are called surface currents. |