Climates are Cool! By Revant Ranjan and Claire Robinson
Table of Contents P. 1-5 P. 6-7 P. 8 P. 9-10 P. 11 P. 12-13 P. 14 P. 15 P. 16 P. 17-18 P. 19 P. 20 P. 21-22
The Atmosphere Convection The Sun Wind/Ocean Currents High & Low Pressure Fronts Types of Clouds Types of Precipitation Isotherms & Isobars Weather Maps Meteorology Instruments Dew Point Tornadoes and Hurricanes
Our Atmosphere The Atmosphere of the Earth is made up of all the air that you can see in our world. All of the gases that surround our big blue planet create its Atmosphere!
The Troposphere The Troposphere is a fancy name for what scientists know as the lowest layer of air in our atmosphere. It around 10 kilometers high!
The Stratosphere The Stratosphere is the layer that sits above the Troposphere, and it is extremely important! The OZONE Layer is inside the Stratosphere, and its job is to protect us from the harmful rays of the sun.
The Mesosphere The Mesosphere sits on the Stratosphere, and its maximum height is 100km off the Earth's surface!
The Thermosphere The Thermosphere is the highest layer of the Earth's atmosphere; it reaches to around 400km high! This layer is also important because it burns up meteorites and rocks that enter our atmosphere, protecting us from small impacts.
Convection
Whenever heat moves through a fluid (like air or water), scientists call it convection. Warm things always rise, and cool things always sink. So warm air rises above cool air, and warm water rises above cool water.
Example of Convection
The Sun Our Sun is much more than just a bright ball of gas in the sky; it helps create the weather! When the sun warms the earth's surface, convection happens in the air and oceans, creating winds and currents that help move clouds and moisture all around the earth.
Wind Currents Have you ever felt a cool breeze when you walked outside? Whenever wind moves, it is called a Wind Current. Wind Currents are caused by the constant movement of air, this happens because of convection! Warm air rises above cold air, and this creates wind currents. Wind currents can be found all over the world! Some even happen in huge patterns across many continents.
Ocean Currents Ever think about how fish travel across the oceans? They travel by swimming through Ocean Currents! Ocean currents are created by the different level of heat in the ocean. Cold water is denser than warm water, which means that the bits of water are more closely packed, making it heavier than warm water. An ocean current is what occurs when water of different temperatures circles around to different areas.
High and Low Pressure What exactly is air pressure? What is the difference between High and Low pressure? Well, air pressure is figured out based on how dense air is. In an area where there is High Pressure, clear skies and sunny weather are sure to follow. When there is lower pressure in an area than the area surrounding it, it causes higher winds and slightly warmer air, which can cause cloud production, and in lots of cases, bad weather such as thunderstorms.
Cold and Warm Fronts At a warm front, a warm air mass collides with a slowly moving cold air mass. The warm air mass rises above the cold air mass. Depending on whether or not the warm air is humid, weather can be rainy and foggy for several days after the warm front passes through the area. At a cold front, a cold air mass slides under a warm air mass.
Occluded Fronts An occluded front happens when two cold air-masses catch a warm front in between them, and force it to be cut off ("occluded"). from the ground. Then the two cold airmasses meet under the warm front and possibly mix.
Types of Clouds Did you know that there are three different kinds of clouds? Cumulus clouds are puffy and white, and they have flat bottoms. Stratus clouds form in layers, and are usually close to the ground. Fog or clouds close to the ground are made of stratus clouds. Cirrus clouds are feathery, bright white, and made up of ice crystals.
Types of Precipitation Precipitation is any form of water that falls to the earth. The four types of precipitation are Rain, Snow, Sleet, and Hail. ● Rain is made of droplets of water vapor. ● Snow falls when water droplets freeze into ice flakes. ● Sleet is partially a mixture of both water droplets and ice flakes that fall from the sky. ● Hail is made up of small balls of frozen water droplets that are refrozen while suspended within clouds before falling as precipitation, creating larger and larger ice spheres known as Hail.
Isotherms and Isobars An isobar shows lines of equal air pressure. The closer together that two isobars are, the stronger the wind is. Meanwhile, and isotherms represent lines of equal temperature.
Example Weather Map
How Scientists Get Images Have you ever wondered how scientists get pictures of the Earth from outer space? Scientists use satellites to take pictures of land from above to study changes in the environment. In fact, they can even predict future changes made to the Earth's surface!
Meteorology Instruments A barometer is an instrument that measures changes in air pressure; there are two kinds of barometers: mercury barometers and aneroid barometers. Mercury barometers are made of a glass tube with partially filled with mercury. Aneroid barometers are usually smaller than mercury barometers, and it’s not filled with a liquid, so it’ s easier to move and generally easier to use.
Dew point Have you ever felt the grass when it was wet in the morning? Dew is what is on the grass. The temperature at which condensation begins is the "Dew Point". Condensation is when water collects on a surface.
Tornadoes "It's a twister! It's a twister!" You guessed it, it's a tornado!
Tornadoes develop in low, heavy cumulonimbus clouds, which are the same types of clouds that brings thunderstorms.
Hurricanes A hurricane is a tropical storm that has winds of 119 km per hour or higher. It usually spans across 600 km. Warm water causes the hurricane to receive more energy. The water causes the air around it to become warmer which feeds the storm. Once a hurricane passes over land, it usually loses its energy and breaks apart.
WEATHER IS WONDERFUL!!!
Work Distribution Revant: Table of Contents Slides 3-12 Slide 17 Slide 19
Claire: Slides 13-16 Slide 18 Slides 20-24