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WEATHER
Which elements of weather can you pick out in the next slide?
In 5 seconds or less….
Weather is simply the state of the atmosphere
That means that the weather has everything to do with the
atmosphere….and the atmosphere has everything to do with weather..
So to understand weather, we must understand the
atmosphere
What is the atmosphere?
The atmosphere is the layer(s) of gases that surrounds the earth. It is like an invisible
blanket that wraps around the planet
Another way to describe the atmosphere is like
AN OCEAN
OF AIR
If the atmosphere is like an ocean of air. Where are we in
that ocean?
At the bottom…
Some gases in the atmosphere are:
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Argon
Carbon Dioxide
What do these gases make?…
AIR
These gases are floating around in the atmosphere
around us…
What keeps those molecules in the atmosphere?
Why don’t they fly off into
space????
Gravity!
If gravity is holding all of this ‘sea of air’ in place,
where will the atmosphere be the most dense?
Imagine that all of the atmosphere is pushing ‘down’
So, we will feel the most weight of the atmosphere closer to the
earth’s……
SURFACE
Temperature
is how hot or cold the atmosphere is
What determines the temperature?
The temperature of a place is affected by the amount of the
sun’s rays (solar radiation) that reaches the earth’s surface
REACHES THE EARTH’S SURFACE
The earth is not warmed by the direct heating of the atmosphere by the
sun’s rays
So we know that the atmosphere prevents some solar radiation (sun’s rays) from reaching the
earth’s surface
So what would happen if the sun’s rays had to travel through more
atmosphere?
What about if the sun’s rays were pointed at an angle?
Did you know the earth is tilted?
Look at the higher latitudes.
What happens to the sun’s rays?
Look how much of the atmosphere the rays have to go through at the higher
latitude