Reading 1 Earths Atmosphere Earths atmosphere is perfect for the life it sustains because it was created that way

y by the One that created everything. The atmosphere of earth is responsible for many important functions pertaining to weather, climate and life. Most of the atmosphere remains the same everywhere with approximately 1-4% of it being responsible for weather related change. There are four major layers of the atmosphere including the a) troposphere (lowest with temperatures decreasing with increasing altitude and is the layer in which we live), b) stratosphere (the next layer up has differing temperatures in the upper and lower portion and contains the ozone layer that protects earth from the suns damaging UV rays), c) mesosphere and thermosphere (top two layers made up of small amounts of gaseous atoms and molecules with temperatures that decrease with altitude). The atmosphere is made of several trillion gas atoms and molecules that have mass and put pressure on the earth as well as all things on it. Air pressure is measured using a barometer and is at its heaviest at the earths surface. Scientists believe that he earths atmosphere has evolved and changed over time, but I dont agree with this theory. Even scientists have not been able to prove this is so and can only theorize how it may have changed. The problem they have is trying to figure out how oxygen got into the atmosphere. I believe it was there all along, because tells us he made it perfect during the week of creation. Scientists also believe that humans are having a devastating effect on the earth which is causing global warming. I dont believe in global warming because there should be a trend of warming across the globe and this has not been proven. Humans can have a damaging effect on earth and we should be careful how we treat this wonderful place God gave us to live, but I think that God also created earth to withstand our interaction with earth and He will continue to provide for us. Reading 5 Weather and the Redistribution of Thermal Energy The text states that weather is not a set of random acts of nature but a response to the unequal heating of Earths atmosphere, but isnt the heating and cooling of each day random by nature? Weather occurs when thermal energy created in the air is redistributed. Energy is complex. There are many types (kinetic, gravitational, sound, thermal and light), it can be transformed from one type to another, but the total amount of energy stays the same and is conserved. Our atmosphere, as it pertains to weather, includes potential, kinetic, thermal, and radiant energy. Temperature differences create heat or thermal energy which is the total kinetic energy of all the atoms or molecules in a substance. The atmosphere of earth is heated by solar energy and terrestrial radiation. Since the earth is tilted, the distribution of solar energy is greater in the northern hemisphere at certain points in the year and less at other times and the curve of the earth affects the distribution of solar energy around the earth. As radiation makes it through the atmosphere, some of it is reflected or absorbed. The transfer of energy on earth results in sensible heating (thermal energy we can feel, sense and measure), and latent heating (heat transfer as result of change: solid to liquid, liquid to gas, etc.). Sensible heating can occur through conduction (transfer of energy from warm object to cooler through contact), and convection (heat distribution within a fluid through movement within it). Latent energy is transferred to the atmosphere during evaporation. Heat transfer causes winds as warm are is pushed upwards and cooler are escapes downward and can be local or global. Air masses are regions of air that have a consistent temperature and moisture content. When they meet with other air masses that arent the same, a frontal zone occurs (cold, warm, stationary, or occluded) and can result in weather.

Reading 8 Weathers Central Actor: Water Water is essential for just about everything on earth. What happens when we run out? Fortunately, we wont! Water runs in a cycle in which it is transformed into many different states, but the amount always remains constant. This process is defined by the Hydrologic Cycle. Water is first evaporated or transpired into the air and then condenses into clouds and is eventually returned back to earth. Water can take all three forms, solid, liquid and gas and is found in and around almost everything. The water in the atmosphere in the form of water vapor is important to our weather. Relative humidity is the measurement of water vapor in the air and depends on the temperature. The air is considered humid when the dew point is close to the air temperature. Water is made up of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms held together by covalent bonds and have polarity. This polarity results in hydrogen bonding and is what gives water its shape or form. Water molecules are tightly bonded when frozen but become looser when liquid allowing them movement, and the bonds are completely broken (individual water molecules) when turned into a gas. Water vapor condenses onto atmospheric particles to form ice crystals which become clouds. Clouds come in three forms (cirrus, stratus and cumulus) but there are variations of these clouds that depend on weather. When the moisture in clouds becomes too heavy it falls in the form of precipitation. I didnt know that all precipitation starts as ice/snow but melts as it hits warmer temperatures to become rain or other forms of precipitation. Water plays an important role along with cloud formation, frontal zones, temperature and wind to create weather. Reading 9 The Inner Workings of Severe Weather Severe weather is a force to be reckoned with, but knowing how it occurs can help us to take precautions. Thunderstorms occur because of strong up and down currents within convective clouds. When the gap between the positive charges at the top of the cloud and the negative charges at the bottom no longer insulates them from one another, an electrical spark, or arc, occurs. This results in a large release of energy that heats up the air in the cloud and produces thunder. Tornadoes occur when thunderstorms happen with strong jet stream flow. Most are small and short lived but can be devastating because of their high winds and low pressures. Tropical storms and hurricanes occur in low pressure areas over warm water. Wind is produced and begins to rotate within the low pressure area and is warmed causing water to evaporate and condense and precipitation begins to form. As the storm grows it is reclassified based on wind speed. Tropical storms are indicated by winds exceeding 66 kph and are reclassified as a hurricane when wind speeds reach 199 kph. At this point, the hurricane has a calm eye surrounded by a thick wall of intense thunderstorms known as the eye wall. Hurricanes can last over a week as they move inland and result in a storm surge on land which causes the most damage. Forecasters use a weather watch, warning system to alert people about oncoming storms. A watch is issued when conditions favor the formation of a particular storm and a warning is issued once weather phenomena have been sighted. Satellites can also track storms from space which can give forecasters a good indication of weather patterns. Reading 10 Flash to Bang Lightning is something we associate with thunderstorms and are a direct result of them. Lightning occurs when static electricity in a storm is abruptly discharged, reestablishing electrostatic equilibrium within the cloud. It is interesting to note that lightning happens to be

one of the most frequent threat of weather to occur that pose a threat to humans but is not talked about so much because it strikes individually as opposed to en masse. Maps have been designed to detect cloud to ground strikes of lightening in order to help with forest fire detection and utility workers but can now be used to keep people safe during electrical storms. Fortunately, only 10% of storms are cloud to ground. Three types of equipment (Optical Transient Detector, Lightning Imaging Sensor, and lightning Mapper Sensor) are used to detect lightning flashes and can tell us where lighting strikes most often. The global patterns of lightning strikes are not influenced by human activity, but human activity has influenced how many are struck by lightning. Fatalities occur more often during active times (10 am -7 pm) and in areas where people congregate outdoors, especially doing recreational activities. Most strikes occur near or on water, near or under trees, near vehicles, homes or buildings, or in open spaces. You can be hurt not just by being struck, but also by just being near a strike, including in your home. Lightning produces between 100 million and 1 billion volts of electricity and the air around it can reach 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightning can be cloud to cloud or cloud to ground. The distance of lightening from where you are can be determined using the flash to bang method. When you see the flash, count the seconds until the bang of thunder and divide that number by 5 to get the number of miles the storm is from where you are. This is usually pretty accurate based on my own use of the method, but it has its flaws since you cannot be sure which way the storm is moving. Although lightening can cause damage to property and be harmful to humans, it does serve a purpose! Lightning produces fixed nitrogen which is good for soil and plant life. Thunderstorms are like dipoles reacting to the negative charge of the earths surface resulting in reverse polarity of the cloud. Thunderstorms grow in three stages: growth (cumulus clouds grow in a tower with accumulating electrical activity), maturity (precipitation forms and the cloud forms into a nimbus and lightning occurs), and dissipation (downdraft spreads and cooler air cuts off inflow of moist warm air). You can plan ahead for thunder and lightning storms by planning ahead, getting to a safe place, staying low, and using common sense. Reading 11 Scales in Meteorology Scales are developed in science to give generalizations and categorize information in levels. Meteorology has many different scales to measure weather. For temperature, we use the scales of Fahrenheit (English system based on water freezing at 32 degrees and boiling at 212 degrees), Celsius (based on water freezing at 0 degrees and boiling at 100 degrees), and Kelvin (based on random motion of molecules, starts at absolute 0 with water freezing at 273.15K and boiling at 373.15K). Weather patterns can be determined using four spatial scales of atmospheric phenomena which are all influenced by one another. The global scale tracks the largest weather patterns and includes general circulation features and the regions of the atmosphere. The synoptic or continental scale tracks weather in a dominate region and covers pressure systems, air masses and frontal boundaries. The mesoscale covers weather or wind in small areas on a local scale including squall lines, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and tropical depressions as well as local winds. The microscale includes areas smaller than a kilometer and tracks individual clouds and eddies. Wind is measured using the Beaufort Wind Scale (ranges from 0 12 and measures wind speeds from calm to hurricane strength). Storms are scaled based on their size and can be helpful in determining how damaging they will be. The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale has a rating system from 1-5 and is based on the hurricanes intensity and estimates of property damage and flooding. The Fujita Tornado Scale categorizes tornadoes by intensity and the area they may cover. It is divided into six categories ranging from F0 (gale) up to F5 (incredible). This scale

can give clues to wind speed and damage expectations. Using qualitative and quantitative data, scales are very descriptive tools that measure phenomena and are defined by marks set at fixed intervals.