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| 9503625487 | nitrogen (N2) | 78% of atmospheric gases: fundamental for living organisms; deposits on earth through nitrogen fixation, lightning, and precipitation; returns to atmosphere through combustion of biomass and denitrification | 0 | |
| 9503638095 | oxygen (O2) | 21% of atmospheric gases: produced through photosynthesis and used in cellular respiration | 1 | |
| 9503641331 | water vapor (H2O) | 0-4% of atmospheric gases: largest amounts near equator, over oceans, and in tropical regions | 2 | |
| 9503647302 | carbon dioxide (CO2) | <1% of atmospheric gases: has increased 25% in the last 300 years due to burning of fossil fuels and deforestation; produced during cellular respiration and decay of organic matter; greenhouse gas; stays in the atmosphere for app. 100 years | 3 | |
| 9503660383 | methane (CH4) | <1% of atmospheric gases: contributes to the greenhouse effect; has increased 150% since 1750 due to fossil fuels, coal mining, landfills, grazers, and flooding of rice fields; lasts in atmosphere for app. 10 years | 4 | |
| 9503671211 | nitrous oxide (N2O) | >1% of atmospheric gases: produced by burning of fossil fuels, fertilizers, burning biomass, deforestation, and conversion to agricultural land; contributes to greenhouse effect; lasts app. 170 years in the atmosphere | 5 | |
| 9503684012 | ozone (O3) | >1% of atmospheric gases: 97% is found in the stratosphere; absorbs UV radiation; produced by UV radiation and light but also in production of photochemical smog; has a hole over Antarctica; CFCs cause ozone breakdown | 6 | |
| 9503725497 | weather | describes whatever is happening outdoors in a given place at a given time; caused by the movement or transfer of heat energy; influences: temperature, air pressure, humidity, precicppitation, available sunshine, cloud cover, wind speed/direction | 7 | |
| 9503725498 | climate | describes the total of all weather occurring over a period of years in a given place including average weather conditions, regular weather sequences, and special weather events | 8 | |
| 9503737017 | troposhere | 0-7 miles above surface: contains 75% of atmosphere's mass; weather occurs in this zone; temperature decreases with altitude | 9 | |
| 9503786492 | stratosphere | temperature increases with altitude due to the absorption of heat by ozone; this is the ozone layer | 10 | |
| 9503858350 | mesosphere | temperature decrease with altitude; coldest layer; ice clouds; meteors burn up in this layer | 11 | |
| 9503862748 | thermosphere (aka ionosphere) | temperature increases with height due to gamma rays, X-rays, and UV radiation; has the aurora borealis (northern lights) and australis (southern lights) when molecules are converted into ions | 12 | |
| 9503886150 | radiation | the low of electromagnetic radiation which allows the Earth to receive solar energy | 13 | |
| 9503889123 | conduction | the transfer of heat through a substance that results from a difference in temperature between different parts of the substance | 14 | |
| 9503891619 | convection | primary way energy is transfered from hotter to colder regions in the atmosphere and determines weather patterns | 15 | |
| 9504101873 | air mass | a large body of air that has similar temperatures and moisture content | 16 | |
| 9504105100 | air pressure | created by gravity on an air mass and therefore decreases with altitude; low pressure means cloudy/stormy weather, high means fair | 17 | |
| 9504158490 | albedo | reflectivity caused by light reflecting off of water (low) land, (moderate), snow/ice (highest), or dust | 18 | |
| 9504170818 | altitude | elevation; the temperature drops 3 degrees F for every 1,000 feet risen | 19 | |
| 9504331588 | cloud | a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere formed by rising warm air that due to a drop in pressure, get colder andthe water vpaor condenses | 20 | |
| 9504399246 | specific heat | heat-holding capacity; high in water, low on land | 21 | |
| 9504418327 | front | the boundary between two different air masses | 22 | |
| 9504529083 | warm front | a warm air mass advancing on a cooler one resulting in rain because of the moisture in the warm air mass | 23 | |
| 9504564779 | cold front | a cold air mass advancing on a warmer one resulting in thunderstorms since it is so abrupt | 24 | |
| 9504579344 | humidity | moisture content of the air; how much water vapor is in the air | 25 | |
| 9504584441 | dew point | the temperature at which condensation takes place | 26 | |
| 9504666454 | rain shadow effect | results in an area having relatively little precipitation due to the effect of a mountain that causes the prevailing winds to lose their moisture on the windward side (which has precipitation0, causing the leeward side to be dry | 27 | |
| 9504679287 | orographic lifting | occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain; happens during the rain shadow effect process | 28 | |
| 9504686376 | anthropogenic | human caused | 29 | |
| 9508082727 | Coriollis force (effect) | the apparent deflection from its path as a result of the Earth's rotation: to the right in the Northern Hemisphere, and to the left in the Southern; amount of deflection depends on speed of the moving obect and its latitudinal location; none at the equator | 30 | |
| 9508424760 | Pleistocene Ice Age (climatic periods) | a period when large glacial sheets covered much of North America, Europe and Asia with interglacial periods and followed by glacial periods. (cold, warm, cold) | 31 | |
| 9508495718 | Climatic Optimum (climatic periods) | beginning of the Holocene epoch; the period directly after the Pleistocene Ice Age when the Earth warmed and there was glacial retreat; there was a period of cold due to the release of fresh water from glaciers which altered the ocean currents; the warmth that followed was the warmest its been and gave way to the development of many civilizations due to a larger tropical region (warm, cold, warm) | 32 | |
| 9508523132 | Glacial Retreat (climatic periods) | the period after the Climatic Optimum in which a cooling trend caused glacial retreat and the emergence of many islands like the Bahamas and coastal regions (cold, warm, cold) | 33 | |
| 9508533746 | Roman Empire (climatic periods) | the period after the "glacial retreat" in which the Earth warmed enough to allow the emergence of the Roman Empire but then cooled causing the Nile and the Black Sea to freeze (warm, cold) | 34 | |
| 9508547449 | Little Climatic Optimum (climatic periods) | the period after the "roman empire" in which the Earth warmed enough to allow the Vikings to settle Greenland and Iceland (warm) | 35 | |
| 9508555551 | Little Ice Age (cimatic periods) | the period following the Little Climatic Optimum in which the Earth has been the coldest since the Pleistocene Ice Age (cold) | 36 | |
| 9508562915 | Present (climatic periods) | the period following the Little Ice Age which shows a general trend of warming (warm) | 37 | |
| 9508630146 | ,trade winds | the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds | 38 | |
| 9510205774 | northeast trade winds | blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere | 39 | |
| 9510207030 | southeast trade winds | blow predominantly from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere | 40 | |
| 9510211045 | anemometer | an instrument that measures wind speed |  | 41 |
| 9510213159 | wind vane | an instrument that measures wind direction |  | 42 |
| 9510218044 | Hadley (air circulation cell) | circulates hot air near the equator which returns to the surface after it has risen and cooled; regions characterized by high humidity and rainfall, tropical regions; in subtropical regions there is no humidity and are desert areas | 43 | |
| 9510312100 | Polar (air circulation cell) | circulates cold air near the poles resulting in polar regions with very little humidity (deserts), low temperatures, and the tundra/taiga biomes | 44 | |
| 9510323441 | hurricane | the most severe weather phenomenon that begin over warm oceans, form massive thunderstorms, and begin to spin due to the Coriolis effect; they can cause destructive winds and flooding; common in late summers and early falls | 45 | |
| 9510335834 | tornado | swirling masses of air with 300 mph wind speeds that are produced from a single storm over land that turns into a vortex which when it comes into contact with the land is extremely destructive; common April through July in the center of the US AKA Tornado Alley | 46 | |
| 9510353495 | monsoon | strong, violent winds that change direction with the season; common in India; dry in winter, wet in summer | 47 | |
| 9662949346 | thermocline | the transition layer between warmer mixed water at the ocean's surface and cooler deep water below | 48 |
