Meteorology

Meteorology is the scientific study of the atmosphere and the phenomena that we usually refer to as weather. Weather is constantly changing… it refers to the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place. Climate is a description of aggregate weather conditions. 2. Temperature of the air, humidity of the air, type and amount of cloudiness, type and amount of precipitation, pressure exerted by the air, and the speed and direction of the wind. 4 2. Oceans cover 71% of the earth’s surface 3. The oceans account for about 97% of Earth’s water 4. Geosphere: beneath the atmosphere, solid earth. Atmosphere: provides the air that we breathe and protects us from the dangerous radiation emitted by the Sun. Hydrosphere: dynamic mass that is continually on the move, evaporating from the oceans to the atmosphere, precipitating to the land, and running back to the ocean. Biosphere: includes all life on earth. 1. 5 2.
The Earth system is powered by the Sun and the Earth’s interior 1. 6 2. Nitrogen and oxygen make up 99% of the volume of clean, dry air. Nitrogen: 78%, Oxygen: 21% 4. Ozone is a form of oxygen that combines three oxygen atoms into each molecule. Its presence of the ozone layer in our atmosphere is crucial because it absorbs the potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. 1. 7 3. Ozone depletion seriously affects human health, animal life, and plant life.
4. The Montreal Protocol represents a positive international response to a global environment problem. 1. 8 1. Pressure decreases with higher altitudes. Pressure decreases at a decreasing rate with an increase in altitude until, beyond an altitude of about 35 kilometers, the decrease is negligible. 3. Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere. All of our weather occurs in the troposphere 4. The temperature increases in the atmosphere because it absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the Sun