Term
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Definition
| areas of the globe where air masses form |
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Term
| How are air masses classified |
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Definition
| temperature and moisture characteristics of their source regions |
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Term
| air masses based on moisture content |
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Definition
Maritime (m)-moist
Continental (c)-dry |
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Term
| air masses based on temperature |
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Definition
tropical (T)-warm
polar (P)-cold
Arctic (A)-extremely cold |
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Term
| movement of an air mass away from its source causes two things |
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Definition
region to which the air mass moces undergoes a major change in temp and humidity
the air mass becomes more moderate |
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Term
cP
type and properties at source |
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Definition
Continental polar
cold and dry
very stable
minimal cloud cover |
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Term
cA
type and properties at source |
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Definition
Continental arctic
extremely cold and very dry
extremely stable
minimal cloud cover |
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Term
mP
type and properties at source |
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Definition
Maritime polar
cold damp and cloudy
somewhat unstable |
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Term
cT
type and properties at source |
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Definition
Continental tropical
hot and dry
very unstable |
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Term
mT
type and properties at source |
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Definition
maritime tropical
warm and humid |
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Term
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Definition
| high-lat continental interiors |
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Term
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Definition
| highest lat of asia, NA, greenland and antarctica |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
cold
warm
stationary
occluded |
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Term
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Definition
| occurs when a wedge of cold air advances toward the warm air ahead of it |
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Term
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Definition
represents the boundary of warm air mass moving toward a cold one
light, continuous precipitation |
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Term
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Definition
| similar to cold in structure but has not recently undergone substantial movement |
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Term
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Definition
appear at the surface as boundary between two polar air masses, with a colder polar air mass usually advancing on a slightly warmer air mass ahead of it.
cold front closes on a warm front |
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Term
| typical cold front surface slope |
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Definition
about 1:100
surface rises only 1 m for every 100m of horizontail extent |
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Term
| cold-type occlusion location |
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Definition
| eastern half of continent |
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Term
| warm-type occlusion location |
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Definition
| western half of continent |
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Term
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Definition
areas where mT and cT airmasses reside next to each other
strong humidity boundary |
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Term
| temp and dew points prior to and following a dryline |
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Definition
| substantail drop in humidity and slight increase in temp |
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Term
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Definition
| term for large body of air with similar temp and moisture characteristics |
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Term
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Definition
| areas of the globe where air masses form |
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Term
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Definition
hot and dry
very unstable |
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Term
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Definition
cold damp and cloudy
somewhat unstable |
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Term
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Definition
cold and dry
very stable
minimal cloud cover |
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Term
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Definition
warm air sliding over a dense cold air mass
the characteristic flow associated with a warm front |
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Term
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Definition
statistical properties of the atmosphere
includes measures of average conditions and varability |
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Term
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Definition
the average value of some weather variable
such as daily high temperaturem for a recent 30-year period |
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Term
| todays climatic normal period |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
temp and precipitation
wind
cloudiness
net radiation |
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Term
| controlling factors for climate |
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Definition
marine/continental-uneven distribution of land and ocean
earth-sun relationships--position of Earth in orbit influence amount of radiation recieved
latitude--influence sun angle and length of day
aircirculation--flow of air and position of high and low pressure systems
topography--high-elevation locations colder than would be expected solely based on lat |
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Term
| Thornthwaite's classification system |
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Definition
developed to distinguish climates based on moisture availability
moisture index
thermal efficiency of a location |
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Term
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Definition
A-E classification system based relationship between Vegetation climate characteristics
based on average monthly precipitation and temp and total annual precipitation of a location to determine the climate zone |
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Term
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Definition
Tropical
all months have avg temp greater than 18 C |
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Term
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Definition
Dry
potential evaporation exceeds precipitation |
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Term
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Definition
Mild Midlatitude
coldest month of the year has an avg temp higher than -3C but below 19C. summers can be hot |
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Term
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Definition
Severe Midlatitude
winters have at leawst occasional snow cover.
coldest month having a mean temp below -3C. summers are typically mild |
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Term
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Definition
Polar
all months have mean temp below 10C |
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Term
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Definition
(0-25' N/S lat)
Af--tropical wet
Am--monsoonal
Aw--tropical wet and dry |
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Term
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Definition
| Tropical wet--has no dry seasons at all |
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Term
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Definition
| monsoonal climate--has a short dry season while rest of the year is rainy |
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Term
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Definition
| Tropical wet and dry--have a distinct dry season, usually coinciding with the seasonal presence of subtropical high pressure of hadley circulation |
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Term
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Definition
(near 30' N/S lat)
BWh--subtropical desert
BWk--midlatitude desert
BSh--subtropical steppe
BSk--midlatitude steppe |
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Term
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Definition
True desert class
subtropical desert
midlatitude desert |
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Term
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Definition
semidesert
midlatitude steppe
subtropical steppe |
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Term
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Definition
20-60' N/S lat
Cfa, Cfb, Cwa, Cwb--humid subtropical
Csa, Csb--mediterranean
Cfc, Cwc, Csc--marine west coast |
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Term
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Definition
35-60' N latitude
Dsa, Dsb--Summer dry Warm
Dsc, Dsd-- Summer dry Cold
Dwa, Dwb-- Winter dry Warm
Dwc, Dwd-- Winter dry Cold
Dfa, Dfb-- No dry season Warm
Dfc, Dfd--No dry Season Cold |
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Term
| Dfa, Dfb, Dwa, Dwb, Dsa, Dsb |
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Definition
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Term
| Dfc, Dfd, Dwc, Dwd, Dsc, Dsd |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
ET--Tundra
EF--Ice cap
H--Highlands |
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Term
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Definition
| influenced by temp changes with elevation |
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Term
| highland complex characteristics |
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Definition
slope orientation
time of day
direction of airflow
orographic uplift |
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Term
| Category of Koppen climates used for tropical environment |
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Definition
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Term
| BEst variable for identifying a desert or steppe climate |
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Definition
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Term
| Category of Koppen climates that exists almost ecvlusively in the N hemispher |
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Definition
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Term
| which state are you most likely to find a mediterranean (Csa or Csb) climate |
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Definition
| Califoria--marine west coast |
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Term
| a tropical wet and dry climate typically has a ____ winter |
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Definition
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Term
| data shown in a climograph |
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Definition
| illustrates the seasonality of temp and precipitation for climate |
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Term
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Definition
associated with tropical wet and dry climates
vegetation consisits mainly of grasses |
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Term
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Definition
a configuration of external factors that influence a system
such as Earth's atmosphere |
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Term
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Definition
| external conditions that can drive climate changes |
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Term
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Definition
| in natural systems the manner in which a change in one var is muted or enhanced by its impact on a another other variable |
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Term
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Definition
| the high albedo of snow amplifies the effect of decreasing incoming solar radiation |
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Term
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Definition
| increasing temp gradient across the mid lat gives rise to neg feedback |
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Term
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Definition
| climate change science some indicator of previous conditions used in the absence of direct measurements |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
change in the statistical properties of atmoshperic variables
inter- and intra-annual variations may obscure changes |
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Term
| methods for determining past climates |
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Definition
ocean deposits
remnant landforms
past vegetation
ice cores |
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Term
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Definition
| rock material transported by icebergs that is eventually deposited on the ocean floor when the iceberg melts |
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Term
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Definition
| extractions from glaciers used to obtain information about past climates |
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Term
| Climate was ____C warmer than present |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| about 2.8 billion years ago |
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Term
| current ice age began __ million years ago and persists ______ |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
last glacial maximum
ice sheet 3500 to 4000 m thick
sea levels 120 m lower than now
2.5 mill years ago |
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Term
| glacial/interglacial cycles |
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Definition
| episodic climate changes associated with the advance and retreat of glaciers |
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Term
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Definition
| last 20,000 years ice age |
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Term
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Definition
| cold period about 13,000 years ago lasting about 1200 years |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| the last century warming and cooling pattern w/ years |
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Definition
1900-1940--warming
1940-1980--cooling
1980-present--warming |
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Term
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Definition
about 700 million years ago
nearly the entire planet might have been ice covered |
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Term
| impacts of warming on temp-related var |
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Definition
fewer days with frost
decrease in number of extreme cold events
snow cover decrease
river and lake icea break-up date earlier, freeze-up date later
decrease in extent of frozen ground |
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Term
| factors involved in climatic change |
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Definition
changes in solar output
changes in sun/earth relationships
changes in land surface
changes in atmospheric composition |
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Term
factors involved in climatic change:
solar output |
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Definition
0.1-0.2 percent change due to 11-year sunspot cycle
the maunder minimum conincided with little ice age |
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Term
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Definition
| a period of Earth's history between about 1645-1715--charterized by minimal sunspot activity |
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Term
| quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) |
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Definition
| a periodic reversal in the direction of lower stratospheric winds over the tropics occuring on an about 2-year cycle |
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Term
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Definition
| variations in earths orbital characteistics having periodicities of tens of thousands of Years and longer |
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Term
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Definition
| the degree to which an elliptically orbitiing planet orbit departs from a true circle |
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Term
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Definition
| the degree of tilt of earth's axis relative to the exlipitc plane |
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Term
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Definition
| the wobble of earth's acis that has a periodicity of about 27,000 years. |
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Term
factors involved in climatic change:
land surface |
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Definition
plate tectonics
landuse changes such as deforestation or desertification |
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Term
factors involved in climatic change:
atmospheric composition |
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Definition
tropospheric aerosols--reduction in surface heating and short residence times
stratospheric aerosols--reductions in surface heating and longer residence times |
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Term
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Definition
dew pt drops with temp
wind directions shifts from s to w or nw
precipiation ahead of front
cloudfree
pressure decrease |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| wind exceeding 58 mph large hailstone or produce tonardos |
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