Exam 7: Circulation of the Atmosphere

The primary force causing ocean currents is:

Strong pressure gradients are associated with uniformly cold temperatures.

Land-sea breezes and ________ are mesoscale winds.

The United States is completely unaffected by monsoons.

Summertime wildfires in California are fanned by:

El Niño has no measurable impacts on weather in the United States.

What option below best characterizes the rainfall distribution at a station,such as New York City,located at about 40 degrees N latitude?

The temperature difference between the poles and the equator drive the westerlies.

City X experiences very dry conditions in the winter,along with a prevailing northerly wind.In the summer,the prevailing winds shift to southerly and the rainfall at City X increases by a factor of 10.What can you say about the general climate regime of City X?

What option below best characterizes the rainfall distribution at a non-desert station located immediately to the north of the Sahara desert?

El Niño events are characterized by:

Name the four major pressure zones that occur in each hemisphere.

What feature of the earth's heat budget leads to the transfer of heat from the equator to the poles by winds and ocean currents?

The equatorial currents in the ocean are the principle driving force for the other ocean currents.

What option below best characterizes the rainfall distribution at a station located south of the Sahara desert at about 20 degrees N latitude?

The prevailing winds that blow from the horse latitudes toward the doldrums are called:

The cyclones and anticyclones of the midlatitudes are part of the ________ circulation.

Although the idealized version of Earth features continuous pressure belts that continue zonally around the planet,the real Earth has broken-up pressure cells that vary seasonally.What explains this?

For much of South and Southeast Asia,winter is a period characterized by relatively dry conditions.

Describe the surface wind direction and the winds aloft direction for the northern hemisphere on a non-rotating Earth.Assume a smooth,uniform Earth.