7.11.2: Chapter Questions
- Page ID
- 50272
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Why do the CFCs released into the lower atmosphere take a very long time to reach the Earth’s ozone layer?
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Why is the amount of water vapor in air so important?
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What are the reasons for the net heat loss to space from polar regions of the Earth and the net heat gain from the sun in the tropics?
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Why are there three atmospheric convection cells in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere? Discuss why the cells are not centered on the equator and why they are more complicated in the Northern Hemisphere.
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Why are persistent cloud cover and rainfall present at atmospheric convergences over the oceans?
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How do the locations of the world’s deserts relate to the locations of the atmospheric convection cells?
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Given that the summer solstice is in June, why is August usually the hottest month in most of the United States?
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The Hawaiian Islands lie in the northeast trade wind zone. Why do the northeast sides of the islands have wet climates and the southwest sides dry climates?
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Antarctica is a desert, despite its ice cap, which is several kilometers thick. Why is it a desert?
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Why are the cloud patterns that we see in weather satellite images dominated by swirls?
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Why don’t hurricanes form at the equator? Why don’t they form over land?
Critical Thinking Questions
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What causes air masses to move vertically in the atmosphere? Why is the vertical circulation of the lower atmosphere restricted to a layer of only about 12 km, although the entire atmosphere is more than 45 km deep?
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Would the height of the restricted vertical circulation in the atmosphere be changed if the Earth’s average surface atmospheric temperature increased? Why or why not?
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On a nonrotating Earth, there would be one atmospheric convection cell in each hemisphere, with upwelling at the equator and downwelling at the poles. On the Earth today, we have three cells in each hemisphere because of the Coriolis deflection. Since the Coriolis deflection will be reduced as the Earth’s rotation is progressively slowed down, at a lower speed of rotation would you expect a system with two convection cells in each hemisphere to be established eventually? Why or why not?
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It is known that in Biblical times, parts of the areas that are now desert in Eurasia (Egypt, Israel, Syria, and so on) were fertile regions with plentiful rainfall. What does this tell us about the location of the atmospheric convection cells?
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If the Earth’s direction of rotation on its axis were somehow reversed, would the location of the world’s deserts change? Why or why not? If so, which parts of each of the continents would become deserts, and why?
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If the trade winds were strengthened by global warming, how might the frequency and strength of El Niños be affected? Explain the reasons for your answer.
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If there were no mountain chains in the western part of the United States, how would the climate in Nevada and the plains states be different? Explain the reasons for your answer.
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No hurricanes are fully formed on the North African side of the Atlantic Ocean, but many hurricanes are formed in the equivalent region off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Why?
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Almost no hurricanes form in the South Atlantic Ocean. Why?