Reference no: EM134012691
Assignment:
Answer any four of the following questions (detailed and elaborate your explanation).
1. What causes day and night? What cause direction of sunrise and sunset? Explain. What causes seasons? How do you know that the season where you live has changed, say from winter to spring or from summer to fall? List four evidences.
2. As an exception, the equator receives equal day and night throughout the year? Why? Why do the north and south poles have 6 months of winter (darkness) and 6 months of sunshine, rather than regular seasons? Would a person in the northern hemisphere experience daytime at the same time as another person in the southern hemisphere if both are located on the same longitude? Please explain.
Use the web link animation for Daylight Hours Explorer
3. What evidence tells you that the earth rotates on its axis? In what direction is the Earth rotating when viewed from the side and when viewed from the top (say the North Pole)? Where is earth's rotational velocity the highest - at the equator or the poles? Explain. Where is deflection of objects due to coriolis effect the highest -at the equator or the poles? Explain.
The Coriolis Effect: Earth's Rotation and Its Effect on WeatherLinks to an external site.
4. What is the source of short-wave radiation? What is the source of long-wave radiation? Why is the short-wave radiation more dangerous than the long-wave infrared radiation? Why should UV radiation on the top of Rocky Mountain be higher than Seattle on the west coast? Do you know why some people get sunburn on a cloudy day?
5. How is latent heat different from sensible heat? Why is it important for humans to know the wind chill factor in winter months? Why is it important for living things know about the heat index in summer months?
6. Why does temperature drop steadily as altitude increases in the first layer of atmosphere? Explain why places by the coast have cooler temperatures but places located inland far away from the sea have hotter temperatures?
7. When do you say air is stable? When do you say air is unstable? Explain how understanding stability of the atmosphere is important to the civil aviation industry? Severe turbulence amid United flight.