Geography 2152F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Freezing Rain, Humidex, Dew Point
6 Mar 2018
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Document Summary
There is an equilibrium between incoming radiation and outgoing radiation. Earth intercepts only a small portion of the sun"s radiation. The sun"s energy drives the hydrologic cycle and all weather phenomena on earth. Nearly all of the energy available at earth"s surface comes from the sun. It is composed of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%) The remaining 1% consists of water vapour, carbon dioxide, and other trace" gases. Water vapour in the atmosphere can result in cloud development and the formation of precipitation. Water vapour comes from evaporation from the oceans. All weather (i. e. clouds and precipitation) is confined to the troposphere. The ozone layer (25km above the surface) protects us from the sun"s harmful uv rays; it is found in the stratosphere. Cloud names generally contain a prefix and a suffix. The prefix describes the height of the cloud; the suffix describes its appearance. Ex: a high puffy cloud is called cirrocumulus.
