weather
A local area's short-term temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover, and other physical conditions of the lower atmosphere as measured over hours or days.
climate
An area's general pattern of atmospheric or weather conditions measured over long periods of time ranging from decades to thousands of years.
uneven heating of the earth's surface by the sun
The first major factor that determines how air circulates in the lower atmosphere, which helps to distribute heat and moisture from the tropics to other parts of the world.
rotation of the earth on its axis
The second major factor that determines how air circulates in the lower atmosphere, which helps to distribute heat and moisture from the tropics to other parts of the world.
prevailing winds
The name for differing directions of air movement. Are major surface winds that blow almost continuously and help distribute air, heat, moisture, and dust over the earth's surface.
properties of air, water, and land
The third major factor hat determines how air circulates in the lower atmosphere, which helps to distribute heat and moisture from the tropics to other parts of the world.
currents
Mass movements of surface water produced by prevailing winds blowing over the oceans.
greenhouse gases
Small amounts of certain gases, including water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, in the atmosphere play a roll in determining the earth's average temperatures and its climates.
greenhouse effect
The natural warming effect of the troposphere.
rain shadow effect
Created by the loss of moisture from the landscape and the resulting semiarid or arid conditions on the the leeward side of high mountains.
biomes
Large terrestrial regions characterized by similar climate, soil, plants, and animals, regardless of where they are found in the world.
latitude
Distance from the equator.
elevation
Distance above sea level.
desert
Biome in which evaporation exceeds precipitation and the average amount of precipitation is less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) per year. Such area have little vegetation or have widely spaced, mostly low vegetation.
tropical desert
A type of desert where it is hot and dry most of the year, have few plants and a hard. windblown surface strewn with rocks and some sand.
SUV connection
An example of human activity (increasing number of four-wheel vehicles speeding over the same break the desert's surface crust) that has increased the number of wind-blown dust storms
temperate desert
A type of desert where daytime temperatures are high in the summer and low in the winter and there is more precipitation than in tropical deserts.
cold desert
A type of desert where vegetation is sparse, winters are cold. summers are warm or hot, and precipitation is low.
grassland
Biome found in regions where enough annual average precipitation to support the growth of grass and small plants but not enough to support large stands of trees.
tropical grassland
A type of grassland that contains widely scattered clumps of trees, has a warm temperature year-round and alternating dry and wet seasons.
temperate grassland
A type of grassland where winters are bitterly cold. summers are hot and dry, and annual precipitation is fairly sparse and falls unevenly though the year.
cold grassland (arctic tundra)
A type of grassland that lies south of the arctic polar ice cap, are bitterly cold during most of the year, treeless, swept by frigid winds, and covered by ice and snow, have long and dark winters, and scant precipitation falls mostly as snow.
permafrost
Perennially frozen layer of the soil that forms when the water there freezes. It is found in the arctic tundra.
chaparral (temperate shrubland)
Biome that is found in fairly small patches of coastal regions that border on deserts. Closeness to the sea provides a slightly longer winter rainy season than nearby temperate deserts have, and fogs during the spring and fall reduce evaporation.
forest systems
Land dominated by trees.
forest
Biome with enough average annual precipitation to support the growth of tree species and smaller forms of vegetation.
tropical rain forests
Types of forests that are found near the equator where hot, moisture-laden air rises and dumps its moisture, have year-round, uniformly warm temperatures, high humidity, and heavy daily rainfall. Is ideal for a wide variety of plants and animals.
temperate deciduous forests
Types of forests that grow in ares with moderate average temperatures that change significantly with the season. These ares have long, warm summers, cold but not too severe winters, and abundant precipitation, often spread fairly evenly throughout the yea
evergreen coniferous forests
Types of forest that are cold and found just south of the arctic tundra in norther regions across North America, Asia, and Europe and above certain altitudes in the High Sierra and Rocky Mountains of the United States. Have long, dry, and extremely cold w
mountains
Steep or high lands which cover about one-fourth of the earth's land surface. Places where dramatic changes in altitude, slope, climate, soil, and vegetation take place over a very short distance.