Savvas U12/U13 vocab

Rock Cycle

These two combine to form the many pathways that Earth materials take, which is often summarized as the rock cycle

Metamorphisis

A chemical process where increasing temperature and pressure alter the shape and composition of minerals.

Feedback

An affected system will respond and apply a change back on the first system

Reinforcing feedbacks

Feedbacks that amplify a change

Counterbalancing

Feedbacks that resist or reduce a change

Tipping point

When an old equilibrium cannot be restored by the usual feedback mechanisms, the system can reach this

Energy Budget

describes where energy comes from and where it goes

Greenhouse effect

The energy that is absorbed by Earth’s surface is reradiated upward as infrared energy, some of which is absorbed by gases in the atmosphere and then reradiated back toward the surface, which creates this cycle

Evapotranspiraiton

A combination of evaporation from bodies of water and transpiration from the leaves of plants

Relative humidity

A measure of the percentage of water vapor in the air compared to the maximum amount the air can hold at that particular temprature

Percipitation

When the humidity is 100% and air temperature continues to drop, water vapor will continue to condense and eventually fall to the ground as

Tropical cyclones

Hurricanes and typhoons

Climate forcings

The factors driving the climate

Albedo

The proportion of incoming sunlight that reflects off of an object’s surface

Greenhouse gases

Effective at absorbing wavelengths that correspond to infrared radiation, the kind of energy that Earth’s surface emits