Scientists called meteorologists use a special instrument called a barometer to measure the pressure of the atmosphere. What exactly is it that they are measuring? What is pressure? To understand pressure, consider a sponge. When left alone, a sponge stretches out to its full size. As you squeeze down on the sponge, what happens? How […]
In order to better understand our atmosphere, scientists have divided it into several layers. These layers are divided based on the characteristics of the gases found at that height. Imagine a layered cake. A layered cake is made out of layers of different ingredients. The first layer might be cake mix. On top of that […]
This is one of the first questions that children often inquire of their parents. What makes the sky blue? Why is it not red, pink, or green? The answer to this question can be found by looking at the particulates floating in the air. The Earth’s atmosphere is filled with trillions of tiny dust particles. […]
Most of the gases in our atmosphere have little to no effect on our weather patterns. However, a few gases have a significant effect on the weather that we experience around the world. Carbon dioxide is one of these gases. The gas known as carbon dioxide has the unique characteristic of absorbing infrared radiation, or […]
The most abundant gases found in our atmosphere are nitrogen and oxygen. Nitrogen makes up around 78% of the total atmosphere, while oxygen makes up 21%. The remaining 1% is made up mostly of a gas called argon. This means that with each breath you take you are breathing 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% […]
Hold your hand in front of your face, and breathe in deeply. Now gently blow outward towards your fingers. What do you feel? Does it feel cool and tingly? What you felt blowing past the tips of your fingers is commonly referred to as air. Air is one of the primary things that makes life […]
Throughout most of history, the only tools that map makers had to help them understand and portray the shape of the Earth and its continents were the map maker’s writing implements and their own two legs. It is truly amazing how accurate maps were considering their limited technology. However, maps could vary greatly depending […]
Isolines In Geography, it is often necessary to describe distributions on a map. Let’s consider an example that most of us are familiar with. Have you ever watched the weather report on your local nightly news? One of the important jobs of a meteorologist, or weatherman / weatherwoman, is to show their viewers the distribution […]
Shape Versus Size – Conformality Versus Equivalency Each of the map projections previously discussed as well as any other type of map projection must consider two important factors. What is more important, depicting the accurate sizes of objects on the map, or depicting accurate shapes of these objects? The challenge is that you cannot have […]
Globes are the most accurate way to represent the surface of the Earth. However, because it is not practical to carry a globe into the field, map makers must figure out how to represent a round map on a flat piece of paper, or on a flat screen. Consider the challenge of gift wrapping a […]
