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Clouds & Weather. SOL 6.3 b,c,d,e. WHAT CAUSES CLOUDS & WEATHER ON EARTH?. The North & South Pole receive very little of the sun’s radiation because they are farther from the sun , and they receive its light at an angle . HEAT ! The Earth’s surface is heated unequally .
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Clouds & Weather SOL 6.3 b,c,d,e
WHAT CAUSES CLOUDS & WEATHER ON EARTH? • The North & SouthPolereceive verylittleofthesun’s radiationbecause they are fartherfromthesun, and they receive its light at an angle. • HEAT! • The Earth’s surface is heatedunequally. • The Equator receives MOST of the sun’sdirectradiation.
THE SUN’S HEAT ENERGY MOVES THE AIR! • The sun’s radiation heatstheairon Earth’ssurface. • That heatedairrises, starting a convectioncurrent. • As the warmairrises, coolairfallsto take its place.
THE SUN’S HEAT ENERGY MOVES EARTH’S WATER! • The sun also heats the oceansmoreattheequatorcausing water to move away from the equator, causingsurfacecurrents, like the GulfStream. • The sun’s heat powers the watercycle. It evaporateswaterall overEarth’ssurface! • This movementof the atmosphereandoceanscausesourweather.
HOW DO CLOUDS FORM?(The watercycle -- of course!) As bodies of water(oceans, lakes, rivers, etc.) absorbheatenergy, the water molecules rise and expand (move apart). The water BECOMES A GAS (water vapor) We call this EVAPORATION. The watervaporcoolsin the upper atmosphere and the watermoleculescondense (collect together) and formclouds condensation precipitation evaporation (from bodies of water) transpiration (water from plants) CloudsareNOTGAS-they are tiny liquid water particles – Think about it…YOU CAN SEE THEM so they can’t be a gas…THEY ARE A LIQUID!
CLOUD TYPES CIRRUS VERY THIN & WISPY—look like FEATHERS or HORSE TAILS. Very high up & made of ice crystals. Usually mean FAIR WEATHER STRATUS These clouds COVER the sky like a BLANKET These clouds often bring LIGHT DRIZZLY RAIN – NOT thunderstorms. CUMULUS Puffy clouds that look like cotton balls, often with a flat bottom. These clouds signal FAIR WEATHER (blue skies and sunshine!) THERE ARE THREE MAIN TYPES OF CLOUDS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI-LtnRWmgI YOU CAN ADD PREFIXES TO CLOUD NAMES TO DESCRIBE THEM BETTER ~ALTO- means the clouds are HIGH IN THE ATMOSPHERE: -Altocumulus – high cumulus clouds -Altostratus– high stratus clouds ~ NIMBO or NIMBUS -means the clouds contain RAIN: -Nimbostratus – blanket-like clouds that contain rain -Cumulonimbus – Cumulus clouds that grow really tall and are often ANVIL shaped. Cumulonimbus clouds produce SEVERE WEATHER like THUNDER, LIGHTNING, HAIL, STRONG WINDS & sometimes TORNADOES!