Question 1

How does the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)differ from the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO)?

Accepted Answer

The NAO is characterized by winter (December-March)atmospheric pressure over the northern Atlantic Ocean and the variation in strength and position of the high- and low-pressure centers.On the other hand,the AMO reflects longer-term changes in the sea-surface temperature,which oscillates from slightly cooler to slightly warmer periods over several decades.

Question 2

What is a heat wave? How do heat waves affect people? Why are people in urban areas in danger during a heat wave?

Accepted Answer

A heat wave is a period of excessive temperature.Heat waves can affect people by causing heat strokes,decreasing air quality by accelerating chemical reactions of air pollutants,and causing heart attacks.People living in urban areas are at a high risk because of the heat-island effect; dark pavement collects and absorbs heat from the sun,causing urban areas to be hotter and cool off more slowly than rural areas with less dark material.

Question 3

How does desertification occur? How does desertification differ from a period of drought?

Accepted Answer

Desertification occurs when a region loses its vegetation cover due to long periods of drought,which fosters the evolution of new desert environments.Long periods of drought may lead to desertification,which is the long-term result of drought for vegetated regions.

Question 4

What is distinctive about the shape of a cloud that might develop a severe thunderstorm? (Two very distinctive aspects)

Accepted Answer

A broad anvil-shaped

Question 5

How do storm chasers try to avoid being victims of the tornadoes they study?

Accepted Answer

A)  They keep at least 60 km away. 
B)  They stay in areas that have roads going north, south, east, and west as escape routes. 
C)  They approach tornadoes from the east. 
D)  They approach tornadoes from the southwest. 
E)  They travel in heavily armored vehicles. 
A)  They keep at least 60 km away. 
B)  They stay in areas that have roads going north, south, east, and west as escape routes. 
C)  They approach tornadoes from the east. 
D)  They approach tornadoes from the southwest. 
E)  They travel in heavily armored vehicles.

Question 6

When air contains the maximum amount of water vapor that it can hold,it is called:

Accepted Answer

A)  its capacity. 
B)  saturation deficit. 
C)  relative humidity. 
D)  precipitation potential. 
E)  hydrologic cycle. 
A)  its capacity. 
B)  saturation deficit. 
C)  relative humidity. 
D)  precipitation potential. 
E)  hydrologic cycle.

Question 7

If you do not have a storm shelter or a basement,where is the safest place in a house to be during a tornado?

Accepted Answer

A)  in an interior room with windows 
B)  lying in a bathtub 
C)  lying on the floor 
D)  in your garage 
E)  under a bed 
A)  in an interior room with windows 
B)  lying in a bathtub 
C)  lying on the floor 
D)  in your garage 
E)  under a bed

Question 8

What creates the electrical charges in clouds that characterize lightning storms?

Accepted Answer

A)  friction between air molecules in turbulent air in the clouds 
B)  friction between droplets of water falling in clouds and others carried upward in updrafts 
C)  natural charges on the Earth's surface repel equally charged surface charges on droplets in the cloud base 
D)  collisions between ice particles rising and falling in turbulent air in the clouds 
E)  collisions between falling ice particles and water droplets carried in updrafts 
A)  friction between air molecules in turbulent air in the clouds 
B)  friction between droplets of water falling in clouds and others carried upward in updrafts 
C)  natural charges on the Earth's surface repel equally charged surface charges on droplets in the cloud base 
D)  collisions between ice particles rising and falling in turbulent air in the clouds 
E)  collisions between falling ice particles and water droplets carried in updrafts

Question 9

If you do not have a basement,where is the safest place to be in a house during a tornado?

Accepted Answer

In an interior room

Question 10

If a major storm is nearby,what would you watch for as a sign that a tornado might soon develop?

Accepted Answer

A wall clo

Question 11

What is a drought? What negative effects can a drought have on a region?

Accepted Answer

A drought is a distinctly lower-than-usu

Question 12

What creates the electrical charges in clouds that characterize lightning storms? What causes the loud boom that we hear as thunder?

Accepted Answer

Collisions between falling ice

Question 13

In what direction do most mid-continent tornadoes travel along the ground?

Accepted Answer

A)  east 
B)  southwest 
C)  northeast 
D)  northwest 
E)  southeast 
A)  east 
B)  southwest 
C)  northeast 
D)  northwest 
E)  southeast

Question 14

What is the major weather difference in the southeastern United States during an El Niño weather pattern?

Accepted Answer

Fewer and

Question 15

Does the atmosphere in the tropics contain more moisture or less? Why?

Accepted Answer

More moisture,becaus

Question 16

Why is the climate on the east side of the mountains of western Washington and southern British Columbia drier than on the west side?

Accepted Answer

Those areas are in the belt of

Question 17

What should you do to avoid being killed by lightning if caught out in the open in a storm with no place to take cover?

Accepted Answer

A)  Lie flat on the ground, so you are as low as possible. 
B)  Stand very still, so your target is smaller. 
C)  Run for cover under the nearest dry tree. 
D)  Crouch down on the balls of your feet with your feet together. 
E)  Crouch with your feet apart. 
A)  Lie flat on the ground, so you are as low as possible. 
B)  Stand very still, so your target is smaller. 
C)  Run for cover under the nearest dry tree. 
D)  Crouch down on the balls of your feet with your feet together. 
E)  Crouch with your feet apart.

Question 18

Which of the following always decreases as we go upward in the atmosphere?

Accepted Answer

A)  wind 
B)  temperature 
C)  pressure 
D)  moisture 
E)  oxygen to nitrogen ratio 
A)  wind 
B)  temperature 
C)  pressure 
D)  moisture 
E)  oxygen to nitrogen ratio

Question 19

Why does a mass of air get cooler as it rises over a mountain?

Accepted Answer

A)  The air gets cooler because it loses heat to its surrounding cool air. 
B)  The air gets cooler because nearby ice and snow are cold. 
C)  The air gets cooler because the dry air at high elevations conducts heat away easily. 
D)  Air with a certain amount of heat expands as it rises so that heat is distributed through a larger volume. 
E)  The air gets cooler because there is more air pressure at the top of the mountain. 
A)  The air gets cooler because it loses heat to its surrounding cool air. 
B)  The air gets cooler because nearby ice and snow are cold. 
C)  The air gets cooler because the dry air at high elevations conducts heat away easily. 
D)  Air with a certain amount of heat expands as it rises so that heat is distributed through a larger volume. 
E)  The air gets cooler because there is more air pressure at the top of the mountain.

Question 20

What,if anything,happens to equatorial ocean temperatures and sea levels during an El Niño weather pattern?

Accepted Answer

The equatorial ocean

How does the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)differ from the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO)?

What is a heat wave? How do heat waves affect people? Why are people in urban areas in danger during a heat wave?

How does desertification occur? How does desertification differ from a period of drought?

What is distinctive about the shape of a cloud that might develop a severe thunderstorm? (Two very distinctive aspects)

How do storm chasers try to avoid being victims of the tornadoes they study?

When air contains the maximum amount of water vapor that it can hold,it is called:

If you do not have a storm shelter or a basement,where is the safest place in a house to be during a tornado?

What creates the electrical charges in clouds that characterize lightning storms?

If you do not have a basement,where is the safest place to be in a house during a tornado?

If a major storm is nearby,what would you watch for as a sign that a tornado might soon develop?

What is a drought? What negative effects can a drought have on a region?

What creates the electrical charges in clouds that characterize lightning storms? What causes the loud boom that we hear as thunder?

In what direction do most mid-continent tornadoes travel along the ground?

What is the major weather difference in the southeastern United States during an El Niño weather pattern?

Does the atmosphere in the tropics contain more moisture or less? Why?

Why is the climate on the east side of the mountains of western Washington and southern British Columbia drier than on the west side?

What should you do to avoid being killed by lightning if caught out in the open in a storm with no place to take cover?

Which of the following always decreases as we go upward in the atmosphere?

Why does a mass of air get cooler as it rises over a mountain?

What,if anything,happens to equatorial ocean temperatures and sea levels during an El Niño weather pattern?

Natural Hazards and Disasters

Plate Tectonics and Physical Hazards

Earthquakes and Their Causes

Earthquake Prediction and Mitigation

Tsunami

Volcanoes: Tectonic Environments and Eruptions

Volcanoes: Hazards and Mitigation

Landslides and Other Downslope Movements

Sinkholes, Land Subsidence, and Swelling Soils

Climate Change

Streams And Flood Processes

Floods And Human Interactions

Waves,Beaches,And Coastal Erosion

Hurricanes and Nor’easters

Wildfires

Impact of Asteroids and Comets

The Future: Where Do We Go From Here?

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Exam 10: Weather, Thunderstorms, And Tornadoes

How does the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)differ from the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO)?

What is a heat wave? How do heat waves affect people? Why are people in urban areas in danger during a heat wave?

How does desertification occur? How does desertification differ from a period of drought?

What is distinctive about the shape of a cloud that might develop a severe thunderstorm? (Two very distinctive aspects)

How do storm chasers try to avoid being victims of the tornadoes they study?

When air contains the maximum amount of water vapor that it can hold,it is called:

If you do not have a storm shelter or a basement,where is the safest place in a house to be during a tornado?

What creates the electrical charges in clouds that characterize lightning storms?

If you do not have a basement,where is the safest place to be in a house during a tornado?

If a major storm is nearby,what would you watch for as a sign that a tornado might soon develop?

What is a drought? What negative effects can a drought have on a region?

What creates the electrical charges in clouds that characterize lightning storms? What causes the loud boom that we hear as thunder?

In what direction do most mid-continent tornadoes travel along the ground?

What is the major weather difference in the southeastern United States during an El Niño weather pattern?

Does the atmosphere in the tropics contain more moisture or less? Why?

Why is the climate on the east side of the mountains of western Washington and southern British Columbia drier than on the west side?

What should you do to avoid being killed by lightning if caught out in the open in a storm with no place to take cover?

Which of the following always decreases as we go upward in the atmosphere?

Why does a mass of air get cooler as it rises over a mountain?

What,if anything,happens to equatorial ocean temperatures and sea levels during an El Niño weather pattern?

Natural Hazards and Disasters

Plate Tectonics and Physical Hazards

Earthquakes and Their Causes

Earthquake Prediction and Mitigation

Tsunami

Volcanoes: Tectonic Environments and Eruptions

Volcanoes: Hazards and Mitigation

Landslides and Other Downslope Movements

Sinkholes, Land Subsidence, and Swelling Soils

Climate Change

Streams And Flood Processes

Floods And Human Interactions

Waves,Beaches,And Coastal Erosion

Hurricanes and Nor’easters

Wildfires

Impact of Asteroids and Comets

The Future: Where Do We Go From Here?

Filters