click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Weather + Climate
| Water cycle | The continuous movement of water between the atmosphere, the land, the oceans, and living things. |
| Evaporation | The change of state from a liquid to a gas |
| Transpiration | The process by which plants release water vapor into the air through stomata ; also the release of water vapor into the air by other organisms |
| Sublimation | The process in which a solid changes directly into a gas |
| Condensation | The change of state from a gas to a liquid |
| Precipitation | Any form of water that fells to Earth's surface from the clouds ; includes rain, snow, sleet, and hail. |
| Weather | The short-term state of the atmosphere, including temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind, and visibility |
| Humidity | The amount of water vapor in the air |
| Relative Humidity | The ratio of the amount of water vapor in the air to the amount of water vapor needed to reach saturation at a given temperature |
| Dew Point | At constant pressure and water vapor content, the temperature at which the rate of condensation equals the rate of evaporation |
| Air Pressure | The measure of the force with which air molecules push on a surface. |
| wind | The movement of air caused by differences in air pressure. |
| visibility | The distance at which given standard object can be seen and identified with the unaided eye. |
| Air mass | A large body of air throughout which temperature and moisture content are similar. |
| front | The boundary between air masses of different densities and usually different temperatures. |
| Jet stream | A narrow band of strong winds that blow in the upper troposphere. |
| Thunderstorm | A usually brief. heavy storm that consists of rain, strong, winds. lightning, and thunder. |
| Lighting | An electric discharge that takes place between two oppositely charged surfaces, such as between a cloud and the ground, between two clouds, or between two parts of the same cloud. |
| Thunder | The sound cause by the rapid expansion of air along an electrical strike. |
| hurricane | A severe storm that develops over tropical oceans and whose strong winds of more than 119 km/h spiral in toward the intensely low-pressure storm center. |
| storm Surge | A local rise in seas level near the shore that is caused by strong winds from a storm, such as those from a hurricane. |
| Tornado | A destructive, rotating column of air that has very high wind speeds and that may be visible as a funnel-shaped cloud. |
| Sinkhole | A circular depression that forms when rock dissolves, when overlying sediment fills an existing cavity, or when the roof of an underground cavern or mine collaspses. |
| Wildfire | An unplanned fire in land that is undeveloped except for roads and power lines and other suck structures |
| Muck Fire | A fire that burns organic material in the soil |
| Climate | The weather conditions in an areas over a long period of time. |
| Latitude | The angular distance north or south from the equator; expressed in degrees. |
| Topography | The size and shape of the land surface features of a region, including its relief. |
| Elevation | The height of an object above sea level |
| Surface currents | A horizontal movement of ocean water that is caused by wind and that occurs at or near the ocean's surface. |