Weather
Short term variations in atmospheric phenomena that interact and affect the environment and life on earth are called weather
Climate: is the long term average of variations in weather for a particular area
Imbalanced heating: one reason that temperatures may vary from location to location at a certain time of year is that earths axis of rotation is tilted relative to the plane of earths orbit solar radiation is unequal partly due to the changing of air temperature
Thermal energy distribution
The constant movement of air and water redistributes thermal energy around the world
Air mass is a large volume of air that has the same characteristics such as humidity and temperature as its source region. Its source region is the area over which an air mass forms
Types of airmasses
Maritime tropical air are tropical bodies of water
The southwestern United States and Mexico are the source regions of Continental Tropical Air which is hot and dry, especially in summer
Maritime Polar air masses from over the cold waters of the North Atlantic and North Pacific
Continental polar air masses form over the interior of Canada and Alaska and carry fridgid air southward in the winter
Earths ice and snow covered surfaces above 60 degrees latitude in Siberia and the Artic Basin are the source regions of artic air masses
Air mass modification
Air masses change when they move over different places
atmosphere_basics_websquest__1_.doc | |
File Size: | 46 kb |
File Type: | doc |