1. SOL 2 Physical Geography
Vocabulary

2. Hurricanes
Severe tropical storms occurring in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans.
Winds exceed more than 74 mph.

3. Cyclones
Another name for a hurricane, primarily used in the Indian and South Pacific Oceans

4. Typhoons
A hurricane that forms in the Western Pacific Ocean

5. Monsoon A wind system that reverses its direction seasonally
Wet Season – Summer
Dry Season – Winter
Mainly in South Asia, Southeast Asia

6. Tornado
A localized and violently destructive windstorm occurring over land
Funnel-shaped cloud extending toward the ground

7. Desertification The destruction of existing grasslands to form desert.
Occurs due to overgrazing, deforestation, drought, and the burning of extensive areas.

8. Deforestation
The removal of forests by cutting and burning to provide land for agricultural purposes, residential or industrial building sites, roads, etc.

9. Acid Rain
Cloud or rain droplets containing pollutants, such as oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, to make them acidic

10. Polders
Areas of reclaimed land that were once part of the sea bed in the Netherlands

11. Water Diversion
Changing the natural flow of water to another location by using dams, canals, or pipelines.

12. Agricultural Terracing
A leveled section of a hilly cultivated area, designed as a method of soil conservation to slow or prevent the rapid surface runoff of irrigation water.

13. Taiga
A cool forest of cone-bearing evergreen trees; also called a boreal forest

14. Tundra
A treeless area in the Arctic with permafrost that supports vegetation such as lichens, mosses, and stunted shrubs

15. Low Latitudes Tropical Region – hot, really hot!
Located between 23 ½°South to 23 ½°North

16. Middle Latitudes Temperate Region – Think four seasons
VA is located here!
23 ½ ° North to 66 ½ ° North
23 ½ ° South to 66 ½ ° South

17. High Latitudes Polar Region 66 ½° North to 90 ° North
66 ½ ° South to 66 ½° South
VERY COLD!

18. Weather
The condition of the atmosphere at any particular time and place.

19. Rain Forest
A forest which grows in a region of heavy annual precipitation

20. Climate
The weather in some location averaged over some long period of time

21. Greenhouse Effect
Warming that results when solar radiation is trapped by the atmosphere; caused by atmospheric gases that allow sunshine to pass through but absorb heat that is radiated back from the warmed surface of the earth

22. Climate Change (Global Warming)
An increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere (especially a sustained increase that causes climatic changes)

23. Orographic Effect (Rain Cycle)
Rainfall that results from or is enhanced by mechanical lifting of an air mass over mountains.

24. Natural Hazards
A threat of a naturally occurring event that will have a negative effect on people or the environment

25. Ring of Fire
An area where large numbers of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean.

26. Plate Tectonics
Large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere