WEATHER. Which elements of weather can you pick out in the next slide? In 5 seconds or less….

WEATHER

Which elements of weather can you pick out in the next slide?

In 5 seconds or less….

Weather is simply the state of the atmosphere

That means that the weather has everything to do with the

atmosphere….and the atmosphere has everything to do with weather..

So to understand weather, we must understand the

atmosphere

What is the atmosphere?

The atmosphere is the layer(s) of gases that surrounds the earth. It is like an invisible

blanket that wraps around the planet

Another way to describe the atmosphere is like

AN OCEAN

OF AIR

If the atmosphere is like an ocean of air. Where are we in

that ocean?

At the bottom…

Some gases in the atmosphere are:

Nitrogen

Oxygen

Argon

Carbon Dioxide

What do these gases make?…

AIR

These gases are floating around in the atmosphere

around us…

What keeps those molecules in the atmosphere?

Why don’t they fly off into

space????

Gravity!

If gravity is holding all of this ‘sea of air’ in place,

where will the atmosphere be the most dense?

Imagine that all of the atmosphere is pushing ‘down’

So, we will feel the most weight of the atmosphere closer to the

earth’s……

SURFACE

Temperature

is how hot or cold the atmosphere is

What determines the temperature?

The temperature of a place is affected by the amount of the

sun’s rays (solar radiation) that reaches the earth’s surface

REACHES THE EARTH’S SURFACE

The earth is not warmed by the direct heating of the atmosphere by the

sun’s rays

So we know that the atmosphere prevents some solar radiation (sun’s rays) from reaching the

earth’s surface

So what would happen if the sun’s rays had to travel through more

atmosphere?

What about if the sun’s rays were pointed at an angle?

Did you know the earth is tilted?

Look at the higher latitudes.

What happens to the sun’s rays?

Look how much of the atmosphere the rays have to go through at the higher

latitude