| A | B |
|---|
| greenhouse gasses | gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect.[1] The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. |
| volcanic particulates | volcanic ash |
| weather | conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time |
| climate | how the atmosphere "behaves" over relatively long periods of time |
| solar radiation | the visible and near-visible (ultraviolet and near-infrared) radiation emitted from the sun |
| albedo | reflecting power of a surface |
| long wave radiation | (infrared light) contains less energy because the light waves have more space between them |
| short wave radiation | (visible light) contains a lot of energy because the waves are close together |
| insolation | Exposure to the sun's rays. The amount of solar radiation reaching a given area. |
| sunspots | A spot or patch appearing from time to time on the sun's surface, appearing dark by contrast with its surroundings. |
| solar maximums | the sun is peppered with sunspots, solar flares erupt, and the sun hurls billion-ton clouds of electrified gas into space. It's a good time for sky watchers who enjoy auroras, but not so good for astronauts who have to be wary of radiation storms. Power outages, satellite malfunction and communication disruptions, and GPS receiver malfunctions are just a few of the things that can happen |
| solar minimums | there are fewer sunspots and solar flares subside. Sometimes, days or weeks go by without a spot. It is a safer time to travel through space, but a less interesting time to watch polar skies. |
| koppen climate classification system | system is based on the concept that native vegetation is the best expression of climate. Thus, climate zone boundaries have been selected with vegetation distribution in mind. It combines average annual and monthly temperatures and precipitation, and the seasonality of precipitation |
| thornwaite climate classification | divides climates into groups according to the vegetation characteristic of them, the vegetation being determined by precipitation effectiveness (P/E, where P is the total monthly precipitation and E is the total monthly evaporation). |
| cryosphere | portions of the Earth’s surface where water is in solid form, including sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow cover, glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets, and frozen ground (which includes permafrost) |
| hyrdosphere | All the waters on the earth's surface, such as lakes and seas, and sometimes including water over the earth's surface, such as clouds. |
| biosphere | The regions of the surface and atmosphere of the earth or other planet occupied by living organisms. |
| three cell model of oceanic circulation | The wind belts girdling the planet are organised into three cells: the Hadley cell, the Ferrel cell, and the Polar cell. |
| atmospheric circulation | As a rule, the "cells" of Earth's atmosphere shift polewards in warmer climates (e.g. interglacials compared to glacials), but remain largely constant even due to continental drift. Tectonic uplift can significantly alter major elements of it, however - for example the jet stream -, and plate tectonics shift ocean currents. In the extremely hot climates of the Mesozoic, indications of a third desert belt at the Equator has been found; it was perhaps caused by convection. But even then, the overall latitudinal pattern of Earth's climate was not much different from the one today. |
| el nino | warmer than normal sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) in the tropical Pacific ocean that impact global weather patterns. |
| la nina | wetter than normal conditions across the Pacific Northwest and dryer and warmer than normal conditions across much of the southern tier. |
| impact of el nino and la nino | In the continental U.S., during El Niño years, temperatures in the winter are warmer than normal in the North Central States, and cooler than normal in the Southeast and the Southwest. During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the Southeast and cooler than normal in the Northwest. |
| Southern Oscillation | quasiperiodic climate pattern that occurs across the tropical Pacific Ocean roughly every five years. |
| walker cell | conceptual model of the air flow in the tropics in the lower atmosphere (troposphere) |
| thermohaline circulation | refers to a part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes |
| Milankovich Cycles | describes the collective effects of changes in the Earth's movements upon its climate |
