| A | B |
|---|
| Air Mass | Body of air with similar moisture and temperature characteristics |
| Front | Boundary between two air masses, carries precipitation |
| High Pressure | Spins clockwise and out, air sinks |
| Low Pressure | Spins counterclockwise and in, air rises |
| mP | maritime polar |
| mT | maritime tropical |
| cP | continental polar |
| cT | continental tropical |
| cA | continental arctic |
| cold front | cold dense air moves in on warm less dense air, heavy thunderstorms |
| warm front | warm less dense air moves in on cold more dense air, steady precipitation |
| stationary front | warm front and cold from moving past each other |
| occluded front | warm air mass trapped between two cold air masses |
| Blue Triangles | cold front |
| Red semi-circles | warm front |
| troposphere | first layer of the atmosphere, where weather occurs |
| stratosphere | second layer of the atmosphere, contains the ozone layer |
| mesosphere | third layer of the atmosphere, burns up meteors |
| thermosphere | last layer of the atmosphere, protects us from harmful rays from the sun |
| source region | where an air mass is formed |
| jet stream | wind belt that does not allow air masses to form directly over US |
| El Nino | unusually warm ocean temperatures, creates flooding in south america and no upwelling |
| La Nina | unusually cold ocean temperatures, upwelling, storms near australia and indonesia |
| Isobars | Lines on a weather map that show equal areas of pressure |
| Humidity | The amount of water vapor in the atmosphere |
| Dew Point | The temperature in which condensation can occur |
| Ozone | Absorbs UV radiation in the stratosphere, causes inflammation of the lungs in the troposphere |
| Nitrogen | 78% of the gas in the troposphere |
| Oxygen | 21% of the gas in the troposphere |
| Acid Rain | Caused by sulfur dioxide, which creates sulfuric acid in the atmosphere. |
| Sulfur Dioxide | formed in the atmosphere by burning coal, contributes to acid rain |
| CO2 | Formed in the atmosphere from burning coal, main contributor to climate change |
| Particulate Matter | formed in the atmosphere from factories and power plants, can cause problems with our lungs |
