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Atmosphere and Clima
Vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Albedo: | The measure of how much sunlight a surface reflects. Lighter surfaces, like ice and snow, have a high albedo, while darker surfaces, like forests or oceans, have a low albedo. |
| Carbon Dioxide (CO₂): | A greenhouse gas found in Earth's atmosphere. It is released by natural processes like volcanic eruptions and human activities such as burning fossil fuels. |
| Electromagnetic Spectrum: | The full range of energy waves, including visible light, infrared radiation, and ultraviolet light. These waves travel through space and carry energy. |
| Energy Budget: | The balance between the energy Earth receives from the Sun and the energy Earth radiates back into space. This balance affects the planet’s climate. |
| Global Wind: | Large-scale wind patterns across the Earth's surface that help distribute heat and moisture around the planet. Examples include the trade winds and the westerlies. |
| Greenhouse Effect: | The process where certain gases in Earth's atmosphere trap heat from the Sun, keeping the planet warm enough to support life. |
| Heat: | The transfer of thermal energy between objects due to a difference in temperature. |
| Infrared Radiation: | A type of energy from the Sun that we cannot see but can feel as heat. |
| Temperature: | A measure of how hot or cold something is. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the molecules in a substance. |
| Troposphere: und. | The lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere, where weather occurs and where most of Earth's air is fo |
| Visible Light Radiation: | The part of the electromagnetic spectrum that we can see. It includes all the colors of the rainbow. |
| Volcanic Outgassing: | The release of gases, including water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide, from volcanoes into the atmosphere during eruptions. |
| Climate Proxy: | Natural materials, such as ice cores, tree rings, and sediment layers, that provide indirect evidence of past climate conditions. |
| Eccentricity: | The change in the shape of Earth's orbit around the Sun from more circular to more elliptical, which affects the amount of solar energy Earth receives. |
| Glacial Periods: | Cold periods during Earth's history when large parts of the continents were covered by ice sheets. |
| Interglacial Periods: | Warmer periods between glacial periods when ice sheets retreat, and temperatures rise. |
| Milankovitch Cycles: | Long-term changes in Earth's orbit and tilt that affect climate patterns over tens of thousands of years, contributing to glacial and interglacial periods. |
| Obliquity: | The angle of Earth's tilt on its axis, which affects the intensity of the seasons. |
| Precession: | The wobble in Earth's rotational axis, which changes the timing of the seasons over thousands of years. |
| Biomes: | Large regions of Earth characterized by specific climate conditions, plants, and animals. |
| Climate Controls: | Factors that influence a region's climate, including latitude, altitude, ocean currents, and proximity to bodies of water. |
| Climatogram: | A graph that shows a region's average monthly temperature and precipitation over a year. |
| Coniferous Forest (Taiga): | A biome with long, cold winters and short summers, dominated by cone-bearing evergreen trees. |
| Deciduous Forest: | A biome with four distinct seasons and trees that lose their leaves in the fall. |
| Interglacial Periods: | Warm periods between glacial periods when ice sheets retreat, and temperatures rise. |
| Polar/High Mountain Ice: | A biome found in extremely cold regions, such as the polar ice caps and high mountain areas, where vegetation is sparse or nonexistent. |
| Savanna (Tropical Grassland): | A biome characterized by warm temperatures, seasonal rainfall, and grasses with scattered trees. |
| Temperate Desert: | A biome with low rainfall, hot summers, and cool winters, often with sparse vegetation. |
| Temperate Grassland: | A biome with moderate rainfall, hot summers, and cold winters, characterized by grasses and few trees. |
| Tropical Desert: | A biome with extremely hot temperatures, very little rainfall, and sparse vegetation. |
| Tropical Rainforest: | A biome near the equator with warm temperatures, high humidity, and dense vegetation that receives heavy rainfall year-round. |
| Tundra: | A cold, treeless biome with low-growing vegetation and a layer of permanently frozen soil called permafrost. |
| Adaptation: | Actions taken to adjust to the effects of climate change, such as building flood defenses or developing drought-resistant crops. |
| Carbon Cycle: | The natural process in which carbon moves between the atmosphere, oceans, plants, animals, and the Earth's surface. |
| Global Climate Change: | Long-term changes in Earth's climate, including rising temperatures, changing weather patterns, and sea level rise, often linked to human activities. |
| Interglacial Periods: | Warm periods between glacial periods when ice sheets retreat, and temperatures rise. |
| Keeling Curve: | A graph that shows the ongoing rise in carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels in Earth's atmosphere, based on data collected since 1958 at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. |
| Mitigation: | Efforts to reduce or prevent the emission of greenhouse gases to slow or stop climate change, such as using renewable energy sources and conserving energy. |
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