Weekly Quiz Questions

Processes that result in a change in temperature with no exchange of heat involved are called:

adiabatic processes

The Peru Current is a cold ocean current located off of the west coast of South America. If warm, moist air overrides the Peru Current, what would result?

advection fog

True or False: Radiation fog is caused by adiabatic cooling.

false

Condensation can occur by

• cooling the air diabatically

• mixing two air masses together

• adding water vapor to the air

Air that returns to its original position after an initial vertical displacement is called

stable

This occurs when a large mass of cold air slides underneath a large mass of warm air

frontal lifting

In which of these states would orographic lifting be most important?

Colorado

If the dew point temperature increases while the air temperature remains the same, which of the following statements is true?

Vapor pressure increases.

Which of these metrics does not measure the actual amount of water vapor in the air?

saturation vapor pressure

If the vapor pressure is 10 mb and the air temperature is 24 degrees C, the relative humidity is approximately:

33%

What is true about ocean currents?

1. Currents are affected by the Coriolis effect.

2. Currents are an example of ocean-atmosphere interactions.

3. Currents transport heat from warm areas to cool areas.

True or False: All else being equal, more rainfall would fall over a patch of warmer ocean waters (high SST) than over cooler ocean waters (low SST).

True

This map shows sea surface temperatures and wind vectors for December 1997 over the tropical Pacific Ocean. The top panel shows the observed values, and the bottom panel shows the anomalies (how December 1997 was different from the average conditions during the tropical Pacific). Based on the anomalies shown, December 1997 was likely part of a(n) ____________ year.

El Nino

The driest regions outside of the polar regions are associated with

Subtropical Highs

True or False: Like the continental U.S., Hawaii is mostly under the influence of westerly winds.

False

A seasonal climate forecast predicts extreme drought in northeast Brazil and Indonesia, and wet and cool conditions over the southern United States, including California and Florida. Based on this information, you could surmise that 

an El Niño event has been predicted to occur

What are some characteristics of the ICTZ

surface convergence, lots of rainfall, rising air

True or False: The general circulation of the atmosphere is caused by an imbalance in energy, where low latitudes have a surplus of energy compared to high latitudes, combined with the rotation of the Earth.

True

Which of the following wind belts/general circulation features has the greatest influence on Newark?

Westerlies

If the earth did not rotate, the Hadley Circulation 

would have one giant cell that extends from the south pole to the north pole

What are the most destructive hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson scale?

Category 5

If you were considering a move and were deathly afraid of hurricanes. which of the following states would you want to avoid the most?

Florida

The strongest winds in a hurricane occur in the

eye wall

True or False: In the future under climate change, hurricanes are expected to occur more often and with greater intensity.

false

Over the past 150 years, about 15 major hurricanes have struck North Carolina. What is the recurrence interval (in years) for major hurricanes in this state?

10 years

The Thermohaline circulation

is driven in part by differences in salinity (salt).

Density is highest in water that is

cold and salty

What are the “ingredients” required for hurricanes?

no change in wind speed direction or speed with height, warm sea surface temperatures (> 80 degrees F, some initial disturbance, like a tropical wave or cold front remnant

Can a hurricanes location be on or very close to the equator

no

True/False: Sea level rise due to climate change (global warming) is making flooding due storm surges from hurricanes worse (i.e., the flooding reaches higher levels than it would without the warming).

True

True/False: If the thermohaline circulation shut down in the North Atlantic, the climate over eastern North America and Europe would likely warm up.

False