Chapter #1 Solutions - Understanding Weather and Climate - James E Burt, Edward Aguado - 7th Edition

1c. Define weather and climate in your own words. Get solution

1ct. The United Nations has sponsored an agreement (the Kyoto Protocol) that limits carbon dioxide emissions from many developed and developing countries. It has not been ratified by all countries that originally signed the protocol. What are the pros and cons of doing so? Get solution

1. The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has a website at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/severeweather/extremes.html that provides a wealth of information on extreme weather and climate events. Examine the site to see how much information is available. Do any of the topics relate to weather events in your hometown? Get solution

1rq. Explain why television newscasts have weather segments but not climate segments. Get solution

1va. Consider this surface weather map for March 19, 2014. There is a winter storm centered on Chicago, Illinois, with a cold front running through Louisiana, Missouri, and Illinois....Compare temperatures on either side of the cold front where it passes through Arkansas. Which side is colder? About how large is the temperature difference? Get solution

2c. Compare the concerns of the sciences of meteorology and climatology, giving some examples of different phenomena they might investigate. Get solution

2ct. Volcanic eruptions continue to occur and outgas water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases. Do you think that this will be a significant factor in increasing the concentration of these gases during the next century? Why or why not? Get solution

2. Examine the map of National Weather Service Offices at www.nws.noaa.gov/organization.php#maps. Is there a weather service office near you? If so, consider visiting the office and seeing firsthand what goes into producing a forecast. Get solution

2rq. “Prediction” is an important element of the scientific method. Does this mean forecasting the future? Please explain Get solution

2va. Consider this surface weather map for March 19, 2014. There is a winter storm centered on Chicago, Illinois, with a cold front running through Louisiana, Missouri, and Illinois....The temperature in Indianapolis, Indiana, is 46 °F. In 24 hours the cold front will have moved eastward almost to the East Coast. What temperature would you forecast for Indianapolis that day? Get the map for March 20 from the following NOAA website: http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/dailywxmap/dwm_stnplot_20140320.html. Compare your forecast to the actual value. Get solution

3c. List some places you have visited whose climate is affected by proximity to an ocean or by its position deep within a continent. Get solution

3ct. Temperatures usually decrease with height in the troposphere but increase with height in the stratosphere. Why do the two layers have such different profiles? Get solution

3. Keep a record of daily weather in your area and download current weather maps from one of the available websites. Do you notice any patterns on the maps that tend to be associated with particular weather conditions? Get solution

3rq. Why is it difficult to define an absolute top of the atmosphere? Get solution

4c. List the elements of the scientific method. Get solution

4ct. The thermosphere has extremely high temperatures, but a person exposed to the thermosphere would rapidly freeze. Explain the apparent contradiction in terms of what you know about heat and temperature. Get solution

4. Look at today’s weather map and observe the contrasting weather conditions across the United States and Canada. Do any areas exhibit significant changes in weather from adjacent regions? How well defined are the boundary zones? Repeat this exercise for several days and see if these transition regions show movement. Get solution

4rq. What are the homosphere and the heterosphere? Get solution

5c. Suppose you are inclined to try a new weight-loss pill. Devise a scientific approach to evaluating its effectiveness. Get solution

5rq. What is the difference between the permanent and variable gases of the atmosphere? Which gases contribute most to the total mass of the atmosphere? Get solution

6c. Nearly all of the atmosphere lies below an altitude of 100 km (60 mi). As a percentage of Earth size, about now thick is such a layer? Get solution

6rq. Giventhat variable gases are so rare, why consider them at all? Get solution

7c. Explain why horizontal motions are so much stronger than vertical motions within the atmosphere. Get solution

7rq. Why has the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere been increasing during the past century? Get solution

8c. What is atmospheric residence time? Get solution

8rq. What is ozone, and why is it both beneficial and harmful to life on Earth? Get solution

9c. What is the difference between permanent and variable gases? Get solution

9rq. What are aerosols? Are they formed only by human activities or do they occur naturally? Get solution

10c. What are permanent gases? Variable gases? Get solution

10rq. Convert the following Fahrenheit temperatures to Celsius: −22 °F, 50 °F, 113 °F. Get solution

11c. Classify the gases in the atmosphere according to whether they are permanent or variable. Get solution

11rq. Convert the following Celsius temperatures to Fahrenheit: −20 °C, 10 °C, 40 °C. Get solution

12c. Only a few of the gases in Tables 1-2 and 1-3 are important in weather and climate. Which ones? Get solution

12rq. How do photosynthesis, respiration, and decay affect the carbon dioxide balance of the atmosphere? Get solution

13c. How does air pressure arise? How does it vary vertically? Get solution

13rq. In what way does the density of the atmosphere vary with altitude? Get solution

14c. Why do air pressure and density show much the same vertical trend? Get solution

14rq. What are the distinguishing characteristics of the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere? Get solution

15c. List the four temperature layers of the atmosphere and describe their characteristics. Get solution

15rq. What is the tropopause? Get solution

16c. Temperature decreases with altitude in the troposphere but increases with altitude in the stratosphere. What is the explanation for this? Get solution

16rq. In which thermal layer of the atmosphere is the ozone layer found? Why is the term “ozone layer” somewhat misleading? Get solution

17c. What two gases were most abundant in the early atmosphere of Earth? Get solution

17rq. What percentage of the total mass of the atmosphere is contained in the troposphere and the stratosphere combined? Get solution

18c. Give two examples of how biological processes (life) have affected the composition of the atmosphere. Are they important today? Get solution

18rq. The troposphere is less than half as thick as the stratosphere but contains 10 times as much mass. Please explain. Get solution

19c. How are wind and sea-level pressure related? Get solution

19rq. A station at elevation 900 m (3000 ft) has a surface pressure of 900 mb. An airplane is flying 5 km above the surface, Use the rule of thumb in the section on pressure to guess the air pressure surrounding the plane. Get solution

20c. Using the map in Figure 1-16a and referring to Figure 1-17, describe the weather along the coast of North Carolina. Get solution

20rq. How is the ionosphere distinct from the layers of the atmosphere defined by their temperature profiles? Get solution

21c. Is it possible a librarian will one day discover a temperature record going back to the Middle Ages? If not, what is the longest possible temperature record? Get solution

21rq. What is outgassing and why was it important? Get solution

22c. When did computer-based weather forecasting begin? Get solution

22rq. Why were anaerobic bacteria important to the evolution of the atmosphere? Get solution

23rq. Briefly describe the effect that variations in pressure exert on other weather elements. Get solution

24rq. What are isobars? Get solution

25rq. What are station models and what useful information do they depict? Get solution