WEATHER Texas 2012 Texas 2012 what is happening in the air, right here, right now Climate- long term weather patterns

4 main components to the weather 1. Air- – what it is made of, how it is moving 2. water- – precipitation, humidity 3. Heat -solar powered 4. Landforms -ocean vs. land, altitude

The atmosphere a blanket of gases, dust, and vapor surrounding the Earth held there by Earth’s gravity Early atmosphere was high in carbon dioxide (92%) from volcanoes water vapor later condensed, starting the rains that formed the oceans as the first bacteria and plants lived they used carbon dioxide and released oxygen changing the atmosphere today’s atmosphere has much less carbon dioxide (less than 1%), and much more oxygen (21%) and much more nitrogen (78%) = 99% is oxygen and nitrogen gas

The atmosphere Water vapor is between 0-4% depending on the location (desert, rain forest) Argon = 0.93% Carbon dioxide = 0.038% All other gasses = 0.015%

Good OZONE ozone has been added to the atmosphere (20 miles up) in the atmosphere as lightning changed normal oxygen (O 2 ) to ozone (O 3 ). Ozone is important to life on Earth because it is a protective shield from cancer caused by ultra violet light (UV-B). Plants and animals need this sun protection factor.

Current problem The ozone layer was getting thinner as – freon gas was leaked into the atmosphere from refrigerators and air conditioners. – CFC aerosols have been sprayed. – CFC were used to produce styrofoam

Montreal protocol 1987 Most industrialized nations banned the use of CFC in aerosols, freon refrigerant, and stopped using them in the production of styrofoam. Freon first replaced with R-22 low ozone depletion potential. HCFC-22 thought to be safer, but still affects the ozone 1990 Clean Air Act -“Pureon” R-410A

"Bad" ozone is at ground level. It forms when pollutants from cars, factories and other sources react chemically with sunlight. It is the main ingredient in smog. It is usually worst in the summer. Breathing bad ozone can be harmful, causing coughing, throat irritation, worsening of asthma, bronchitis and emphysema, and even permanent lung damage, if you are regularly exposed to it.smogasthmabronchitis and emphysema bad OZONE

Temperature-earth is solar powered 1. thermometers work by expansion and contraction liquids expand as they have more energy so the move up the thin column. Then the liquids contract as they cool off, causing the liquid to move down. “Kinetic Theory of Molecular Motion”

2. bimetal thermometers have two layers of metals that expand at different rates causing the strip to curve.

Heat transfer 1.conduction – when one object touches another and passes the heat along. – Warm bare feet on cold floor. – You touch a hot plate. – Air above black pavement gets hotter as air touches the pavement – NOT very often a WEATHER factor

Heat transfer 2. convection- when a fluid (liquid or gas) moves It is a result of density changing as the temperature changes Hot water “rolls” in a pan/beaker Warm air rises and mixes with cooler air Very important in weather Cooler water sinks to the ocean floor Hot lava rises, cold rock sinks (plate tectonics) NYE

Heat transfer 3. radiation – when energy travels through space in infrared energy waves This is how energy gets from the sun to earth. NYE

Greenhouse Affect A greenhouse stays warmer than the outside because 1) short radiation waves from the sun can pass through the glass into the greenhouse. 2) the materials inside the greenhouse absorb the short waves and release longer waves of Infrared radiation 3) the longer waves cannot pass back out through the glass so the heat gets trapped inside Same reason your car gets hot with the windows rolled up in the sun. zLuqSYF68E

Gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide CO 2, insulate the Earth. Other greenhouse gasses = water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, CFC’s act like the glass in a Greenhouse or in your car. keep some of the heat in. (average earth temp is about 59`F) This is good because…The earth would get terribly cold at night with out this blanket of insulation (average earth temp would be 34`F) [moon day = + 170` F Moon night = -260`F]

This could be bad if… Too much carbon dioxide builds up in the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels and cutting down trees. This would add to earth’s insulation keeping more and more heat in. This is commonly referred to as the Greenhouse Affect. The Global Warming is associated with the Greenhouse Affect Venus’ temperature = ` F from super thick atmosphere ( 90 times denser than that of the Earth)

Earth is the Goldilocks planet Not too hot and not too cold !

ISOTHERMS isotherms = (equal) (temperatures) lines that connect points of equal temperature similar to contour lines, follow same rules

Weather Maps 1. isotherms = (equal) (temperatures) lines that connect points of equal temperature similar to contour lines, follow same rules

Weather Maps 2. isobars (equal) (pressure) lines that connect points of equal air pressure Weather often moves from High air pressure to Low air pressure

The cloud core is often located near the LOW air pressure center. Fronts are most often found along rapidly changing isotherms. Especially where warm air is being quickly changed to cooler air. Cloud legs often spin off the core along these same lines of rapidly changing temperature. Weather Maps

3. warm fronts – on a map, point the direction the warm air is moving

Warm front from the side. They form gradually lowering clouds as the high, warm, less dense air arrives first.

Weather Maps 4. cold fronts-, point the direction the cold air is moving

Cold front from the side. They form a sudden tower of clouds as the low, cold, more dense air runs into the warmer air.

5. stationary fronts – sometimes neither side is moving the other

May 7