Climate Change, El Niño, and Large-Scale Hydrological Influences Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing climate change impacts on water, El Niño dynamics, tropical cyclones, monsoons, and extreme event attribution.

Moisture-Holding Capacity Rule

The atmospheric principle stating that water vapor holding capacity increases by approximately $7\%$ for every $1^\circ\text{C}$ increase ($4\%$ for every $1^\circ\text{F}$ increase) in air temperature.

Flying Rivers

A regional water cycle process involving cascading moisture recycling, where moisture from the Atlantic Ocean falls as rain over the eastern Amazon, is absorbed by trees, transpired back into the atmosphere, and transported westward.

El Niño

A natural climate pattern occurring every 2 to 7 years characterized by weaker trade winds, weakened ocean upwelling, and unusually warm sea surface temperatures in the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean.

Upwelling

The oceanic process in which deep, cold, nutrient-rich water rises to the ocean surface, cooling surrounding air and supporting robust fisheries.

Tropical Cyclone

A rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms originating over tropical or subtropical waters with a closed low-level circulation.

Tropical Depression

A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained wind speeds of $38\,\text{mph}$ or less.

Tropical Storm

A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained wind speeds from $39\,\text{mph}$ to $73\,\text{mph}$, at which point the storm is assigned an official name.

Hurricane

A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained wind speeds of $74\,\text{mph}$ or higher; termed a typhoon in the Western North Pacific and a cyclone in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean.

Major Hurricane

A hurricane reaching Category 3, 4, or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale with maximum sustained winds of $111\,\text{mph}$ or higher.

Monsoon

A seasonal wind and weather pattern defined as receiving at least $2.5\,\text{mm}$ more rainfall per day during the summer season than in the winter season.

Event Attribution

The scientific method of using observational weather data and climate models to determine how human-caused climate change altered the intensity, likelihood, or societal impact of a specific extreme weather event.

Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

A atmospheric belt near the equator where the northeast and southeast trade winds converge, producing rising air, cloud formation, and heavy precipitation.