APES 4
Terms
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- greenhouse gases
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Gases in the earth's lower atmosphere (troposphere) that cause the greenhouse effect. Examples are carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, ozone, methane, water vapor, and nitrous oxide.
- broadleaf deciduous plants
- Plants such as oak and maple trees that survive drought and cold by shedding their leaves and becoming dormant
- warm front
- The boundary between an advancing warm air mass and the cooler one it is replacing. Because warm air is less dense than cool air, an advancing warm front rises up over a mass of cool air
- rain shadow effect
- Low precipitation on the far side (leeward side) of a mountain when prevailing winds flow up and over a high mountain or range of high mountains. This creates semiarid and arid conditions on the leeward side of a high mountain range
- coniferous evergreen plants
- Cone-bearing plants (such as spruces, pines, and firs) that keep some of their narrow, pointed leaves (needles) all year
- cold front
- Leading edge of an advancing mass of cold aircol
- desert
- Biome in which evaporation exceeds precipitation and the average amount of precipitation is less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) a year. Such areas have little vegetation or have widely spaced, mostly low vegetationde
- latitude
- Distance from the equator.
- weather
- Short-term changes in the temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloud cover, wind direction and speed, and other conditions in the troposphere at a given place and time
- permafrost
- Perennially frozen layer of the soil that forms when the water there freezes. It is found in arctic tundra
- broadleaf evergreen plants
- Plants that keep most of their broad leaves year-round. Examples are the trees found in the canopies of tropical rain forests
- altitude
- Height above sea level
- forest
- Biome with enough average annual precipitation (at least 76 centimeters, or 30 inches) to support growth of various species of trees and smaller forms of vegetation
- succlent plants
- Plants, such as desert cacti, that survive in dry climates by having no leaves, thus reducing the loss of scarce water. They store water and use sunlight to produce the food they need in the thick, fleshy tissue of their green stems and branches
- grassland
- Biome found in regions where moderate annual average precipitation (25 to 76 centimeters, or 10 to 30 inches) is enough to support the growth of grass and small plants but not enough to support large stands of trees
- upwelling
- Movement of nutrient-rich bottom water to the oceanUs surface. This can occur far from shore but usually occurs along certain steep coastal areas where the surface layer of ocean water is pushed away from shore and replaced by cold, nutrient-rich bottom water
- microclimates
- : Local climatic conditions that differ from the general climate of a region. Various topographic features of the earthUs surface such as mountains and cities typically cause