Term | Definition |
Atmosphere | The envelope of gases that surrounds the Earth and provides a mixture of gases that are necessary for all living things to survive. |
Troposphere | The layer of Earth’s atmosphere that extends from Earth’s surface to an altitude of about 17 km, has an inverse relationship between altitude and temperature, and contains almost all weather. |
Stratosphere | The layer of Earth’s atmosphere with an altitude of about 17 km to about 50 km, has a direct relationship between altitude and temperature, and contains jet streams and the ozone layer. |
Jet Streams | Very high speed winds reaching speeds of more than 320 km/hour caused by differences between cold polar air and warm tropical air. |
Ozone | A special form of oxygen (O3) that acts as a shield from ultraviolet (UV) radiation. |
UV Radiation | Invisible electromagnetic radiation from the Sun that can cause sunburns and skin cancer. |
Mesosphere | The layer of the atmosphere that is located from about 50 km to about 80 km above Earth’s surface, has an inverse relationship between altitude and temperature, and protects us from meteoroids. |
Thermosphere | The layer of the atmosphere that is located from about 80 km to thousands of km above Earth’s surface, has a direct relationship between altitude and temperature, and is divided into two regions. |
Ionosphere | The lower layer of the thermosphere that has an altitude of about 80 km to about 550 km, contains gases that absorb UV radiation, become electrically charged, and produce the Northern lights. |
Exosphere | The upper layer of the thermosphere that has an altitude of about 550 km to thousands of km above Earth and contains satellites orbiting the Earth. |
Convection Current | The mass movement of air or water that occurs when warmer, less dense air or water rises and is replaced by cooler, denser air or water. |
Wind | The horizontal movement of air from one place to another in Earth’s atmosphere. |
Local Winds | Winds that blow from any direction and usually cover short distances. |
Sea Breeze | The flow of air from the sea to the land during the daytime caused by warm air above land rising and cool air moving inland. |
Land Breeze | The flow of air from the land to the sea during the nighttime caused by warm air above water rising and cool air moving out to sea to replace it. |
Global Winds | Winds that blow from a specific direction and almost always cover larger distances than local winds. |
Coriolis Effect | The change in global wind currents due to the Earth’s rotation. |
Surface Zone | The layer of the ocean near the surface that contains the warmest, least dense water in the ocean. |
Thermocline | The layer of the ocean in which the water temperature drops rapidly and exists because warm, less dense water does not easily mix with the cooler, denser water below. |
Deep Zone | The deepest layer of the ocean that contains the coldest, most dense water in the ocean. |
Ocean Currents | Water in the ocean that moves in streams. |
Surface Currents | Ocean currents caused by wind patterns that are located from the surface of the ocean to a depth of several hundred meters. |
Deep Currents | Ocean currents caused by differences in the density of water deep in the oceans that are located at depths grater than several hundred meters. |
Upwelling | The rising of deep cold ocean currents that occurs when the current encounters land and is important because it brings food and nutrient rich water to the surface. |