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Book Chapter |
In this Activity, you will explore how gases can be dissolved in a liquid or solid, what influences how those gases are released from the liquid or solid into the atmosphere, and how that process can be used to explain…
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El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
Book Chapter |
ENSO refers to the periodic “shift” in sea surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific Ocean that affects climate in a large portion of the world. The acronym ENSO comes from two such climate shifts, one known as…
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Book Chapter |
Although we usually cannot feel the air, there are times when the force of the air is obvious. Differences in air pressure influence the wind as well as cloud formation, and air pressure observations can help…
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Book Chapter |
The ozone layer refers to a region of the atmosphere about 15–30 km above Earth’s surface that contains a relative abundance of ozone (but still a tiny amount compared to the rest of the air). Ozone is a molecule…
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The Percentage of Oxygen in the Atmosphere
Book Chapter |
How do we know how much of each gas is in the atmosphere? We cannot see the individual atoms that make up the air and, even if we could, we would not be able to count all of the atoms to see which type of atom is most…
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Air Pollution and Environmental Equity
Book Chapter |
Airborne pollutants include “criteria” pollutants, such as ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and lead, and toxic pollutants like benzene and mercury. The Environmental…
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Book Chapter |
At first, you may think the particles are the result of pollution. While much of the particulate matter in the atmosphere is the result of humans polluting the air, there are also natural sources of particles. Wind-…
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Weather and the Redistribution of Thermal Energy
Book Chapter |
The weather that we observe, like the variations in temperature, humidity, wind, and precipitation, is a consequence of the atmosphere’s response to differences in its temperature. In response to these differences, the…
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Why Is It Hotter at the Equator Than at the Poles?
Book Chapter |
For locations close to the equator, the Sun can get close to directly overhead. For locations close to the poles, the Sun never gets far above the horizon. For some days of the year, the Sun never gets above the horizon…
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Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect
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The “greenhouse effect” refers to how certain gases in the atmosphere (like carbon dioxide and water vapor) warm due to their absorption of infrared radiation emitted by Earth, leading to the surface of Earth being…
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Which Gets Hotter: Light or Dark Surfaces?
Book Chapter |
On sunny summer days, is it better to wear light-or dark-colored clothing if you are trying to keep cool? Which type of clothing is best to wear on cold, sunny winter days if you want to get warm quickly? You probably…
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Environmental Effects of Acid Rain
Book Chapter |
Acid rain refers to rain water that is slightly acidic due to the presence of air pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, much of which come from power plants and auto emissions. Acid rain impacts lakes and…
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Book Chapter |
A hot air balloon uses hot air. You may have heard that hot air rises. In this Activity, you will explore what it is about hot air that makes it rise.
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Weather’s Central Actor: Water
Book Chapter |
Water plays an important role in weather, not only as a liquid in rivers, lakes, oceans, and clouds, but also as a vapor in the atmosphere and as a solid in snow, glaciers, ice, and clouds. The total quantity of water…
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Book Chapter |
Wind is an important part of everyone’s daily lives. Have you ever flown a kite, thrown a disk, glided a paper airplane, or released a balloon into the air? All of these events have been affected by wind to some degree…
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