Atmospheric Hazards and Climate Change Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering core terms, definitions, and equations from GCSE Geography topics on natural hazards, atmospheric circulation, tropical storms, and climate change.

Natural Hazard

A naturally occurring physical event that has the potential to cause loss of life, injury, or damage to property and the environment.

Natural Event

A natural physical process (such as an earthquake) occurring in an unpopulated area without interacting with people or property.

Risk Equation

$\text{Risk} = \frac{\text{Hazard} \times \text{Vulnerability}}{\text{Capacity to Cope}}$, showing that risk increases with greater threat or population vulnerability, but decreases with improved community preparation.

Weather

The state of the atmosphere at a specific place and time, including temperature, precipitation, humidity, and wind speed.

Climate

The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period of time.

Latitude

The angular distance of a place north or south of the Earth's equator, usually expressed in degrees and minutes.

Insolation

The amount of solar radiation reaching a given area of the Earth's surface.

High and Low Air Pressure

Pressure differences caused by air motion; ascending warm air creates low pressure at the surface, whereas descending cool air creates high pressure.

Convection Cell

A self-contained area in the atmosphere in which upward motion of warmer air in the centre is balanced by downward motion of cooler air at the periphery.

Jet Streams

Fast-flowing, narrow, meandering air currents located in the upper atmosphere.

Coriolis Effect

The deflection of global wind patterns caused by the rotation of the Earth, turning winds to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.

Tricellular Model

An atmospheric circulation model consisting of three distinct cells in each hemisphere: the Hadley cell, Ferrel cell, and Polar cell.

Saffir-Simpson Scale

A scale rating tropical storm intensity from Category 1 to Category 5 based on wind speed, storm surge height, and potential damage at landfall.

Eye Wall

The most violent part of a tropical storm surrounding the eye, where the highest wind speeds occur due to steep pressure gradients.

Storm Eye

The central core of a tropical storm ($16\text{ to }48\,\text{km}$ wide) characterized by light winds, warm temperatures, clear skies, and calm conditions.

Primary Effects

Direct impacts caused immediately by a hazard event, such as buildings collapsed by high winds or coastal destruction from a storm surge.

Secondary Effects

Indirect impacts occurring as a consequence of primary effects, such as outbreaks of waterborne disease following damage to sanitation infrastructure.

Quaternary Period

A geological time period stretching from $2.6\text{ million years ago}$ to the present day.

Glacial Episode

A cold climatic period lasting approximately $100{,}000\,\text{years}$ during which extensive ice sheets accumulate across continental areas.

Interglacial Episode

A warm climatic period lasting approximately $10{,}000\,\text{years}$ between glacial episodes during which ice sheets retreat toward the poles.

Greenhouse Effect

A naturally occurring atmospheric process that keeps the Earth about $33\,^\circ\text{C}$ warmer than it would otherwise be by re-radiating heat back to the surface.

Enhanced Greenhouse Effect

The intensified warming of the Earth caused by human emissions increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Mitigation

Strategies and actions aimed at reducing the causes of climate change, primarily by reducing greenhouse gas emissions or expanding carbon sinks.

Adaptation

Strategies and actions responding to the impacts of climate change to reduce human and environmental vulnerability to new conditions.