Twenty Questions

What do you know about the weather?

Twenty Questions

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20

1. What is the atmosphere?

A layer of gases and small particles that surrounds the earth

2. Why is the sky blue?

Water droplets and dust in the atmosphere reflect and bend the sun’s rays sending them out in all directions. This process is called scattering. Short-wavelength rays like blue light are more easily scattered so we see more blue light than other wavelengths (colors).

3. What’s in a cloud?

Water droplets that have condensed from water vapor in the air

4. What is in the air you breathe?

Nitrogen (78%) Oxygen (21%) Argon (.9%) Other gases (carbon dioxide, ozone) .1%

5. What determines our climate?

Latitude, altitude, distance from large bodies of water, ocean currents, winds and mountain ranges

6. Why is it hotter in Phoenix in the summer time than it is in Seattle?

Seattle has a different latitude (closer to the north pole) and is closer to the Pacific Ocean than Phoenix.

7. How is the air heated?

Heat from the sun is first absorbed by the earth and then radiated back into the air heating it.

8. What are the hottest & coldest temperatures ever recorded in Phoenix?

Hottest Temperature = 122 F in 1990 Coldest Temperature = 16 F in 1913

9. Why is it warmer in the summer than in the winter in the Northern Hemisphere?

The sun’s rays are more direct and the days are longer during the summer because of the earth’s tilt on its axis

10. What is global warming?

Global warming is the warming of the earth due to increased levels of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, being trapped in the atmosphere.

11. How do tornadoes form?

Tornadoes develop in low, heavy cumulonimbus clouds (thunderstorms) most often in the Midwestern U.S. where cold air masses from Canada meet warm air masses from the Gulf of Mexico.

12. How do hurricanes form?

Hurricanes form when a low pressure system develops over warm ocean water -- energy from the warm water fuels the storm.

13. What causes wind?

Differences in air pressures cause wind, which is the movement of air.

14. Why does it get cooler as you travel up a mountain?

The higher you climb up a mountain, the thinner the air. The thinner air contains less water vapor and carbon dioxide to trap the heat.

15. What is air pollution?

Air pollution is any substance in the atmosphere that is harmful to living things or property. The main source of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels by automobiles & industry.

16. What is humidity?

Humidity is the measure of the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere.

17. What percent of the sun’s energy is received by the earth?

Two Billionths!

18. What is ozone and what would happen is our ozone layer was destroyed?.

Ozone is a form of oxygen, O 3, which protects us from UV rays

If the ozone layer were destroyed the earth would receive an increase in UV rays which cause sunburn and skin cancer

19. What is air pressure and where is it the greatest?

Air pressure is the force of air pushing down on earth.

It is the greatest at sea level.

Congratulations!

You have successfully answered all 20 questions!