The average, year after year conditions of temperature, precipitation, winds and cloud in an area are known as its
climate
The farther you live from an ocean, the more likely your climate will be a
continental climate
Summers are caused by
a combination of longer days and more direct rays from the sun
The seasons are caused by
the tilt of Earth's axis as Earth revolves around the sun
Climates are classified according to two major factors
precipitation and temperature
In addition to temperature and precipitation, Koppen's climate system classified climates by a region's
vegetation
The Great Plains east of the Rocky Mountains have a
semiarid climate
The three kinds of temperature marine climates all have
mild winters
Clues to what ancient climates were like come from all the following except
very old weather records
An important principle scientists follow to determine ancient climates is:
if an organism today needs certain conditions to live, then a similar organism that lived in the past needed similar conditions
The most recent major ice age in North America extended as far south as
Nebraska and Iowa
During an ice age, Earth's sea level
lowers
Which of the following do scientists think will probably cause Earth's next ice age
changes in Earth's orbit and the tilt of the axis
Some scientist theorize that continental movements may cause climate changes by
changing patterns of winds and ocean currents
Over the past 200 years, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has
increased steadily
Increased carbon dioxide may cause global warming by
trapping more heat in the atmosphere
Earth's ozone layer
filters harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun
Chlorine atoms in the stratosphere
break down ozone into oxygen atoms
The suns rays are least direct
near the poles
The climate zones lying between 23.5 and 66.5 north and south latitude are called the
temperate zones
Scientists predict that banning the use of chlorofluorocarbons will
gradually restore the ozone layer
The climate on the leeward side of a mountain differs from that on the windward side mostly in
the amount of rainfall
Sea and land breezes over a large region that change direction with the season are called
monsoons
Near the end of both March and September
neither end of Earth's axis is tilted toward the sun
A tropical wet climate exists in the United States only in
Hawaii
Regions that receive less than 25 centimeters of rain annually are called
deserts
A temperature continental climate with short cool summers and long bitterly cold winters is the
subarctic climate
Permafrost and mosses, lichens and wildflowers are common in the
tundra climate
El Nino is a weather pattern that forms in the
tropical Pacific Ocean
An El Nino event typically occurs every
2-7 years