Weather and Climate

1. Weather and Climate

2. Describes the difference between climate and weather in detail • The difference between weather and climate is time. • Climate is the behavior of the atmosphere over long periods of time. • Weather is the condition of the atmosphere over a short period of time • Weather is the atmosphere’s behavior at a certain time and place, and its effects on life and on human activities.

3. The difference between weather and climate is that weather consists of (minutes to months) changes in the atmosphere that last between minutes to months. • Weather refers to temperature, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, brightness, visibility, wind, and atmospheric pressure, as in high and low pressure.

4. Describes different types of clouds, how they are formed, and how they affect weather and climate in detail. • Approximately the 60% of the Earth is covered by cloud. • Clouds form by the condensation when the vapor turns into ice crystals and water • Affect climate: Some clouds help cool the Earth, others help warm it • The clouds that cool reflect the sunlight back into space. The drops or ice particles in clouds spread between 20 and 90 percent of the sunlight that strikes them. This is why they look white.   • Clouds warm the Earth because they absorb the infrared radiation released from the surface and reradiating it back down. The process traps heat like a blanket and slows the rate at which the surface can cool. This is called the blanketing effect and it makes the earths surface hotter.

5. Affect weather: Clouds can warm and cool the Earth. When there are no clouds the temperature is much lower than when there are clouds. Clouds cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight back into space. Clouds also help heat the Earth by absorbing infrared radiation and acting as an insulating blanket, keeping the heat from escaping. • Clouds form due to condensation when vapor turns into ice crystals and water.

6. Types of clouds: • They are classified according to their altitude • Cumulus: They look like piles of cotton • Stratus: They are spread over a flat layer • Rain and snow are caused when clouds turn thicker. These clouds are called nimbostratus.

7. Describes  how the composition of the atmosphere, temperature, and precipitation affect climate in detail. • temperature when it changes, wind and rain are all caused by the amount of heat on the atmosphere • changes in the composition of the atmosphere • UV radiation- ozone layer at sunset light goes through a bigger thickness of the atmosphere. Energy is absorbed by land, water vapor carbon dioxide methane and other gases. Wind is caused by unequal heating in the atmosphere • Precipitation • A change in one weather element often produces changes in the others - and in the region's climate. When the temperature of a region increases notably, the amount of cloudiness and precipitation are affected. If these changes occur over long periods of time, the average climate values for these elements will also be affected.

8. Describes how human activities have affected the Earth’s atmosphere, ozone layer, and climate in detail. • Earths atmosphere • The carbon dioxide emissions created from burning fossil fuels, contribute to the 'greenhouse effect' which holds heat energy inside the Earth's biosphere. • Ozone Layer • The ozone layer:it isa region located in the stratosphere that is above the surface of the Earth.                                                     • Methane (spray cans) and carbon dioxide are also burning away the Ozone Layer, the layer that protects us from the harmful UV rays that come from the sun.

9. Chemicals created by humans cause damages on the ozone layer. The ozone-depleting compounds contain various combinations of the chemical elements chlorine, fluorine, bromine, carbon, and hydrogen and others. • Ozone is vital to shield humans and other life from the ultra violet light that comes from the sun., • Human activities in the last several decades have produced chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These chemicals have been thrown into the atmosphere and have contributed to the depletion of this ozone layer.

10. Climate • Burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, the atmospheric absorption and emission of terrestrial infrared radiation increases, resulting in warming of lower atmosphere and cooling of the stratosphere. • The release of chlorofluoromethanes, nitrous oxide, carbon tetrachloride, carbon disulfide. This causes a similar effect that the one carbon dioxide. • Significant influence on climate.

11. changes in ocean temperature • The presence of a large body of water is a big influence over a regions climate. Areas that are located near an ocean will have a smaller temperature range than an area that is far away from an ocean. • The ocean currents affect the climate because more energy is needed to change the temperature of the water and less energy is needed to change the temperature of land or air

12. meteor impacts • Big effect because the quantities of dust in the atmosphere from the pieces of asteroid rubble that are left by passing comets • Its not certain the amount that is deposited

13. Bibliography • "NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration." NASA. Web. 17 May 2012. <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/noaa-n/climate/climate_weather.html>. • "Do Clouds Have an Effect on the Climate?" Weather. Web. 17 May 2012. <http://weather.lifetips.com/tip/82272/all-about-clouds/cloud-facts/do-clouds-have-an-effect-on-the-climate.html>. • "How Do Clouds Affect Earth's Climate?" Discovery News. Web. 17 May 2012. <http://news.discovery.com/earth/clouds-climate.html>. • "Do Clouds Warm or Cool the Climate?" Do Clouds Warm or Cool the Climate? Web. 17 May 2012. <http://www-das.uwyo.edu/~geerts/cwx/notes/chap09/rossow.html>. • "Introduction to Climate." : Background Material. Web. 17 May 2012. <http://www.ucar.edu/learn/1_2_1.htm>. • "How Does Human Activity Affect the Atmosphere?" Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo! Web. 17 May 2012. <http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100503074013AAnQldu>. • n added: • "Science - Ozone Basics." Science - Ozone Basics. Web. 17 May 2012. <http://www.ozonelayer.noaa.gov/science/basics.htm>. • "The Ozone Layer." The Ozone Layer. Web. 17 May 2012. <http://www.oar.noaa.gov/climate/t_ozonelayer.html>. • "Principal Human Activities That Can Influence Climate Change." Principal Human Activities That Can Influence Climate Change. 1984. Web. 21 May 2012. <http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/Climate/Climate_Science/PrincipalHumanActivities.html>.