Unit 3 Climate and Weather

Earth Systems Review

Unit 3 – Climate and Weather

Current, short-term variations in the atmosphere are referred to as this.

An extended period of well below-normal rainfall.

The number of years it takes before an area’s weather can be classified as climate.

Where would a heat island most likely be located?

Climate data include what three things?

A source of moisture, lifting air mass, and an unstable atmosphere are all conditions that must exist to produce this.

Friction between updrafts and downdrafts in a cumulonimbus cloud forms this.

The stage of a storm when equal amounts of updrafts and downdrafts exist.

These are often associated with supercells.

The type of storm that forms because of unequal heating within one air mass.

This area of a hurricane has the strongest winds and densest clouds.

The two conditions that exist in the eye of the storm.

A mound of water driven toward coastal areas by hurricane winds.

A storm over the ocean with winds speeds over 75 km/h can be classified as this.

This scale is used to measure hurricane strength.

This zone has constant high temperatures.

In this climate type, summer and winter temperatures can be extreme.

Precipitation in this zone is low and vegetation is scarce.

Region that is a tundra with cold temperatures and no trees

This climate type can be divided into two subtypes: humid and dry summer

Unusually cold climate conditions correspond to period of low sunspot activity known as this.

What natural phenomena will eventually cause the Northern Hemisphere to experience summer during today’s current winter?

Period when Earth’s surface was covered by vast sheets of ice.

Warm ocean current that develops off the west coast of S. America.

Short period of climatic change caused by variations in daylight, temperature and weather patterns.

Short Answer – What human activities contribute to changing Earth’s climate, and what can be done to minimize the impact?