Monday April 2, 2012 (Discussion & Worksheet – Weather, Climate, and the Atmosphere)

The Launch Pad Monday, 4/2/11 What is the difference between weather and climate? Weather is the atmospheric conditions that comprise the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation in a given atmosphere at a given time. Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods of time. NOTE: Put this on your pink worksheet to answer Question #1

Assignment Currently Open Summative or Formative Date IssuedDate Due Date Into Grade Speed Last Day Quiz 24S53/23 WS - The Coastal Zone and Waves F3/273/30 Quiz 25S63/30

Announcements I will be available after school today until 4:45.

Latest News planet-touchdown/ Curiosity Halfway to Red Planet Touchdown Click below for article:

Meteorology

Aerial view of Punta Gorda, Florida, after Hurricane Charlie struck on August 13, This Category 4 storm, one of four to strike Florida in 2004, had sustained winds of 145 miles per hour.

Residents of Boston dig out after a blizzard dropped up to two feet of snow in the area on January 23, 2005.

Exceptional winter rains in 2005 triggered many debris flows in Southern California, including this one at La Conchita that killed 10 people and destroyed 18 homes.

Weather and Climate Weather is constantly changing, sometimes from hour to hour and at other times from day to day. Whereas changes in the weather are continuous and sometimes seemingly erratic, it is nevertheless possible to arrive at a generalization of these variations. Such a description of aggregate weather conditions is termed climate. Climate is weather averaged over a long period of time, or a “generalized composite” of weather.

A graph showing daily temperature data for New York City. In addition to the average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for each month, extremes are also shown. As this graph shows, there can be significant departures from average.

Weather and Climate The most important elements of weather and climate that are measured regularly are: Temperature Humidity Cloudiness Precipitation Air Pressure Wind speed and direction

Composition of the Atmosphere Air is a mixture of certain gases – the major gas components of clean, dry air are: Nitrogen (N 2 ) – 78% Oxygen (O 2 ) – 21% Argon and other gases – 0.962% Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) – 0.038% CO 2 absorbs heat energy from the Earth.

Proportional Volume of Gases That Compose Dry Air Figure 16.4

Composition of the Atmosphere Variable components of the air include: Water vapor up to about 4% of the air’s volume forms clouds and precipitation absorbs heat energy from Earth Aerosols tiny solid and liquid particles water vapor can condense on solids reflect sunlight help color sunrise and sunset

This satellite image from November 11, 2002, shows two examples of aerosols. First, a large dust storm is blowing across northeastern China toward the Korean Peninsula. Second, a dense haze toward the south is human-generated air pollution.

Dust in the air can cause sunsets to be especially colorful.

A severe air pollution episode at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Weather influences the lives of people a great deal. It is also important to remember that people have a significant impact on the atmosphere.

Major primary pollutants. Percentages are calculated on the basis of weight.

Worksheet Weather, Climate, and the Atmosphere