Weather and Climate
No description yet. This curated deck is ready for daily study.
Card preview (24)
True or False: The amount of water on the earth (in all forms) is about the same as it was millions of years ago.
True
What is the water cycle?
It shows how water moves from the ground to the atmosphere and back again.
True or False: Water is the only substance on earth that can be found naturally in all three of its states.
True
What percentage of all the world’s water is in the ocean?
95%
Evaporation
The sun (or heat from any source) causes water droplets to turn into a gaseous form, a vapor.
Why does water vapor travel up into the atmosphere?
Because it is less dense than liquid water or solid water.
What happens to the temperature when water is evaporated into the atmosphere?
It gets cooler.
What happens to the water vapor in our atmosphere when the temperature cools?
It turns into tiny, tiny water droplets, aka: CLOUDS.
What is condensation?
When gaseous water cools and turns into tiny water droplets.
True or False: Air currents can move tiny water droplets.
True. The wind moves clouds, which are just made of tiny tiny water droplets.
What happens when clouds absorb more and more water droplets?
Eventually, some of them get released, and they are pulled down to the ground by gravity.
Precipitation
Water droplets falling from the atmosphere, returning to the ground and the ocean.
Why does some rain turn to snow?
Because the water droplets freeze and crystallize on the way down from clouds due to freezing temperatures.
True or False: There is more than one way for water to go through the water cycle.
True - not all water comes from the ocean.
How old can glaciers be?
Thousands of years old. Most glaciers today are remnants from the ice age over 10,000 years ago.
How does water that is absorbed by plants return to the atmosphere?
It evaporates through tiny holes in the leaves called stomata.
Transpiration
The exhalation of tiny water droplets through the stomata
True or False: Drinking water is a limited resource.
True
True or False: Water eventually disappears and new water is created.
FALSE. Water cannot be created or destroyed. The same amount of water always exists, it is just in various places within the water cycle.
How does gravity help the water cycle?
Gravity pulls water droplets from the sky back to the ground (precipitation), and causes water to travel downhill. Precipitation would not exist without gravity.
What two processes does sunlight influence?
Transpiration and evaporation
What are the five main categories of weather (what “weather” is referring to)?
• Temperature • Humidity • Air Pressure • Wind • Precipitation
What is humidity?
How much water vapor is in the air.
True or False: The sun’s heat in the high atmosphere is what causes temperature changes and humidity in the air.
FALSE. It is the lowest atmosphere.