EARTHS SYSTEMS
ATMOSPHERE
• Invisible layers of air primarily made up of Nitrogen (75%), Oxygen (20.9%),
and Argon (.9%) gases
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
• Radiation from the sun is reflected by earth and then bounced into the
atmosphere where the water particles in the air trap the heat; the water
particles remain in the troposphere causing the lowest layer of atmosphere
to be warmer
TROPOSPHERE
• Zone where weather occurs; a dense layer of air in which molecules are
fueled by sunlight and create energy for weather
CORIOLIS EFFECT
• Affects the direction of winds; makes things appear to move in a curved
path due to the Earth spinning
CUMULUS CLOUDS
• Moist air collects rapidly over a small area
• Cumulonimbus clouds cause thunderstorms
STRATUS
• Air rising gently over a large area and then cools slowly; makes sunlight
seemed filtered; they contain ice crystals that can make the sun or moon
appear to have a halo
• Stratonimbus clouds cause storms
CIRRUS
• High in the atmosphere and look wispy; they form when water vapor
condenses directly into ice crystals
AIR MASSES
• Large areas of air with the same temperature and moisture levels of the
surface
COLD AIR MASS
• Produces cold weather
WARM AIR MASS
• Produces warm weather
COLD FRONT
• Leading edge of a cold air mass in which the cold air and warm air move
towards each other and the warm air rises
• These fronts bring snow, thunderstorms, and heavy rains
WARM FRONT
• Leading edge of a warm air mass where cold air and warm air move in the
same direction but then the warm air rises
• These bring rainy weather followed by clear weather
LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM
• Causes cloudy and rainy weather; rapid low pressure changes cause storms
HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM
• Causes clear and sunny weather
BAROMETER
• Measures the pressure of air
pushing down on the tube of
mercury
WIND VANE
• Measures the direction of the wind
ANEMOMETER
• Measures wind speed
RAIN GAUGE
• Measures the amount of rain
OCEAN CURRENTS
• Large rivers of water flow through the ocean
• Cold Currents- run deep below the surface and creep along the bottom of
the ocean until they reach the tropics
• Warm Currents- water heated by the sun and are pushed along by steady
winds from the equator
JET STREAM
• The jet stream is a fast flowing, river of air found in the atmosphere at around
12 km above the surface of the Earth just under the troposphere. It flows west
to east.
GULF STREAM
The warm current that flows from the equator; it originates in
the Gulf of Mexico and runs past the east coast of the United
States towards Newfoundland
Hemisphere
• Half of the Earth divided by an imaginary line
• Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere are divided by the equator
• Western and Eastern Hemispheres are divided by the prime meridian
Latitude
• A geographical coordinate that tells where something is located in
relationship to the distance north or south from the equator
• Equator is at 0 degrees latitude
Global Wind Patterns
• They are named by the direction which they blow
• Polar Easterlies- Located between 60 and 90 degrees latitude and blow
irregularly from the east and north
• Prevailing Westerlies- Located between 30 and 60 degrees (US) and blow
from the west to the east; cause most of the weather in the US
• Trade Winds- Located between 0 and 30 degrees; blow from the northeast
towards the equator