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Physical Exam #4 Your Name: ____________________________ _____

____1. If air's capacity for holding water vapor is diminished, then the relative humidity will _____. 48

A) rise B) fall C) be unchanged D) double E) none of the above

____2. In the atmosphere, liquid water collects around minute particles called ________. A) condensation nuclei B) raindrops C) fog D) cloud droplets E) ice crystals

____3. Clouds form if air is ________.

A) cooled to the dew point B) below freezing C) stable D) unstable E) windy

____4. Among cloud types, those that occur at the highest altitudes are the ________. A) cumulus

B) altocumulus C) stratus D) cirrus E) stratocumulus

____5. Which of the following is most closely associated with stable air?

A) very moist air B) cooling of rising air C) rising air D) fast wind speeds in the air E) descent of air

____6. Showery weather and cumuliform clouds point to the presence of ____. A) orographic lift of air B) anticyclonic descent of air C) instability D) relatively few condensation nuclei E) atmospheric equilibrium

____7. Downwind of large mountain ranges there is less precipitation; this drier zone is called the ________.

A) windward side B) rain shadow C) advection side D) adiabatic area E) lifting condensation level

____8. A midlatitude anticyclone ____ A) is more than one air mass B) exhibits instability C) has a front in its center D) is associated with fast winds E) is associated with sunny, dry weather

____9. Which of the following is NOT NECESSARILY a property of an air mass? A) It must be large. B) It must have relatively uniform properties within itself. C) It must have a warm front at its leading edge. D) It must travel as a recognizable entity. E) It must modify as it leaves its source region.

____10. Which of the following rarely affects North America? A) equatorial B) maritime tropical C) Arctic D) continental polar E) continental tropical

____11. Which of the following is NOT an ideal air mass source region?

the Rocky Mountains west of Denver B) the flat tundra surface of northern Canada C) the flat desert surface of the Sahara D) the Pacific ocean near the Gulf of Alaska

____12. Fronts are located ________.

A) near air masses B) underneath air masses C) at the edges of air masses D) in the middle of air masses E) with respect to motion, to the rear of air masses

____13. ______ have the most dynamic and changeable day-to-day weather on Earth. A) Tropical latitudes

B) Latitudes affected by fronts C) Air mass source regions D) Latitudes affected by hurricanes

____14. On a weather map, a symbol consisting of triangles arranged along one side of a line indicates a(n) ________ front. A) warm B) cold C) stationary D) occluded E) tropical

____15. Which of the following probably is least indicative of a cold frontal passage two hours ago?

A) an increase in temperature B) a change in wind speed C) an increase in in humidity

D) an increase in stability E) a change in wind direction

____16. The Köppen system of climate classification is based on ________.

A) solar radiation B) temperature and precipitation C) evapotranspiration

D) sensible temperature indices E) cumulative humidity indices

____17. Currently, with many climatic classification schemes which have been devised, scholars generally recognize that there are _______ basic climate types on Earth. A) 0 B) 5 C) 10 D) 20

____18. Which of the following is NOT one of the world's five basic climatic types? A) high latitude wet B) tropical hot-dry C) equatorial warm-wet D) midlatitude cool temperate E) subtropical warm temperate

____19. Looking at a world climate map, ________ has the most symmetrical of the distributions of major climatic types on either side of the Equator. A) Australia B) South America C) Africa D) Europe E) Asia

____20. The text makes frequent use of ________, which are charts showing average monthly temperatures and precipitation amounts. A) rain graphs B) climographs C) barographs D) weather graphs E) isohyets

____21. Mediterranean climates experience dry summers because of ________.

A) a double maximum of sun elevation B) the position of subtropical high pressure

C) the cool ocean currents D) adjacent rain shadows E) the strong jet stream influence

____22. Where in the world does average daily temperature exceed the annual temperature range?

A) everywhere B) the polar latitudes C) the middle latitudes D) the tropical latitudes E) nowhere

____23. ”Night is winter" is best applied to the ________ climate. A) Af B) Am C) BWk D) Csa E) Dfa

____24. The single most descriptive word that can be applied to Tropical Wet climates is ________ A) variability B) seasonality C) comfortable D) invigorating E) monotonous

____25. The B climates are dry most usually because of lack of ________ A) uplift in the air B) solar energy C) moisture in the air D) high altitude E) occurrence near the polar front

____26. The largest amount of tropical rainforest is on the continent of ________ A) Africa B) Asia C) South America D) North America E) Australia

27. Southern California has a Mediterranean climate. Can you describe it and explain the controls for why we have this climate (2 points). Koppen classification? ______ Location? _______ (latitude) _______ (what side of the continent)? Two reasons we have this climate are: ________________ _________________

____28. ________ is NOT one of the world's biomes. A) Desert B) Tropical scrub C) Ice field D) Tundra E) Boreal forest F) Midlatitude grassland

____29. The ability to use solar energy in food production is ________.

A) not exhibited in animals B) accomplished by all life on Earth C) not exhibited in most plants

D) not accomplished by any of the life on Earth E) a characteristic of only the perennials

____30. A(n) ______ tree is one that sheds its leaves on a sporadic or successive basis with no seasonal variation. A) deciduous B) hardwood C) softwood D) broadleaf E) evergreen

____31. The hardwood broadleaf deciduous trees around the world are ________. A) eucalyptus B) angiosperms C) gymnosperms D) acacias E) pines

____32. A ________ is a natural but variable sequential change in vegetation patterns.

A) deciduous B) succession C) hypertrophic D) food chain E) monotreme

____33. According to the concept of vertical zonation, changes in ________ are the counterpart of changes in altitude. A) longitude B) slope angle C) precipitation D) soil E) latitude

____34. Most of North America, including the U.S.A. and Canada, lies within the ______ zoogeographic realm. A) Australian B) Neotropical C) Palearctic D) Ethiopian E) Nearctic

Short Answers (1 point each)

35. Describe vertical zonation; draw a diagram. Answer in terms of climatic changes .

36. Explain how an observer can determine the stability condition of the atmosphere by noticing cloud types.

37. Name and explain four methods of determining the climates of the past (2 points).

38. We are in the Age of the Anthropocene; what are two forms of evidence that without doubt indicated that people have caused a worldwide warming of the climate.

39. What information is conveyed in a climograph and draw one for this location? What kind of climate is it?

Is this a northern or southern hemisphere location, why? (3 points)

Jan 1 inch, -20F

Feb 1 inch, -10F

March .5 inch, 10F

April - 1 inch, 25F

May 1 inch, 40F

June 1.5 inch, 55F

July 2 inch 60F

Aug 2 inch 55F

Sept 2 inch 45F

Oct 1.5 inch 25F

Nov 1.5 inch 0F

Dec 1 inch -15F

Answer these questions concerning these 3 maps of consecutive days in the newspaper (5 points).

Which map is the oldest and which is the newest? Are these maps showing weather or climate? In which direction are the fronts moving? Can you tell whether it is a cold or warm front?

What do some of the symbols represent? Dark and light shading, lines with triangles or half moons?

If you were standing in Chicago while this front moved through, how would temperatures change?

Is this front (eastern US) a Low or High and in what direction is it rotating? Explain why the southeastern part of the US is receiving rain from the Gulf of Mexico?

Where in the US would you find lots of sunshine and warm weather? Where would you find thunderstorms and strong winds? And where would it be overcast and cloudy?