| A | B |
|---|
| meteorologist | people who study the weather, and use the information to predict the weather |
| weather | daily conditions of the Earth’s atmosphere |
| atmosphere | mixture of gases that surround the Earth |
| radiant energy | energy from the sun |
| conduction | direct transfer of heat energy from one substance to another |
| convection | transfer of heat energy in a fluid |
| fluid | gas or liquid |
| radiation | transfer of energy by waves such as light |
| greenhouse effect | Carbon dioxide, water vapor & other gases absorb the infrared rays forming a heat blanket around the Earth |
| fossil fuels | coal, oil, natural gas |
| equator | imaginary line that separates the Earth into two halves, sun is nearly overhead |
| thermometer | used to measure air temperature |
| degrees | units used to label temperature |
| Celsius | temperature scale used by scientists |
| atmospheric pressure | measure of the force of air pressing down on the Earth’s surface |
| density | mass divided by volume |
| barometer | instrument used to measure air pressure |
| winds | are formed from warm air rising to create lower pressure below and cooler, denser air moving in underneath to replace it |
| local winds | usually blow from any direction and over short distances |
| global winds | blow from a specific direction and almost always cover longer distances |
| sea breeze | flow of air from the sea to the land (cooler breeze blows to the land |
| land breeze | flow of air from the land to the sea (cooler breeze blows to the sea |
| monsoon | major land and sea breeze; a seasonal wind |
| Coriolis effedt | apparent shift in the path of any fluid or object moving above the surface of the Earth due to the rotation of the Earth |
| doldrums | at equator, surface winds are quite calm; not so good for ships |
| trade winds | about 30 degrees north and south of equator, sky is usually clear, few clouds, little rainfall, winds are calm-called horse latitudes |
| prevailing westerlies | 40-60 degrees latitude, Cool sinking air moving toward the poles is also influenced by the Coriolis effect; |
| polar easterlies | 50-60 degrees to the poles, Winds appear to travel from east to west & are called polar easterlies; cold but weak winds |
| jet stream | narrow belt of strong, high-speed, high-pressure air |
| wind vane | used to determine the direction;points into the wind |
| anemometer | sed to measure wind speed; usually expressed in meters/second, miles/hour, or knots |
