HOMEWORK NO.

1 Weather and Climate

1. Distinguish between the term’s "weather" and "climate".

Weather refers to short term atmospheric conditions while

climate is the weather of a specific region averaged over a long
period of time.

2. What are the basic elements of weather and climate?

temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind, humidity,

precipitation, and cloudiness.

3. What are the two sources of energy for the Earth system?

External energy source: the sun (Solar Energy)

Internal energy source: the earth (Geothermal Energy)

4. What are the major components of clean, dry air?

nitrogen (78%), oxygen (20.9%), and argon (0.9%).

 5. The atmosphere is divided vertically into four layers
based on temperature. List the names of these layers and
their boundaries in order (from lowest to highest), and list
as many characteristics of each as you can.

Troposphere: from sea level to 10km

1. it is the first atmospheric layer closet to Earth's surface.
2. the troposphere is the region where weather occurs.
3. the temperature of troposphere decreases with an
increase in height.
4. Wet and humid.

Stratosphere: from 10km to 45km above sea level

1. Region of ozone formation.
2. Calm and stable layer.
3. Planes fly in it.
4. Dry.

Mesosphere: from 45km to 85k above sea level

1. strong winds
2. Temperature decreases with height throughout the
mesosphere.
3. lower density
4. where most meteors burn up upon atmospheric entrance

Thermosphere: from 85km to 500km above sea level

1. density of the air is extremely low.
2. activity of the molecules is very high due to the amount of
energy they are receiving from the sun.
3. the radio waves are reflected.
6. Why does the temperature increase in the stratosphere?

Temperature in the stratosphere rises with increasing altitude,

because the ozone layer absorbs the greater part of the solar
ultraviolet radiation which generates heat.