Climate & Weather Basics
The building blocks of climate: what a biome is, how weather differs from climate, and the key terms — precipitation, humidity, albedo, the rain shadow effect, and more.
- Difficulty:
- easy
- Questions:
- 10
Questions in this quiz
Q1. What is a biome?
- • A single city neighborhood
- • A large ecological region with characteristic climate, plants, and animals
- • A type of map projection
- • A political boundary
Q2. What is the main difference between weather and climate?
- • Weather is long-term and climate is daily
- • Climate only applies to cities
- • They mean exactly the same thing
- • Weather is short-term and climate is long-term
Q3. What is precipitation?
- • Wind moving across a desert
- • Heat stored in rocks
- • Water falling from the atmosphere
- • Salt moving through soil
Q4. What is humidity?
- • The height of a mountain
- • The amount of water vapor in the air
- • The speed of a river
- • The saltiness of soil
Q5. What is a monsoon?
- • A permanent polar ice sheet
- • A desert sand ridge
- • A seasonal wind pattern that can bring heavy rain
- • A type of ocean trench
Q6. What is evapotranspiration?
- • Water moving into the atmosphere from evaporation and plant transpiration
- • The freezing of ocean water
- • The movement of sand by wind
- • The shaking of land during earthquakes
Q7. What is albedo?
- • The reflectivity of a surface
- • The height of clouds
- • The speed of a glacier
- • The depth of a lake
Q8. What is a microclimate?
- • A climate that exists only on maps
- • A storm that lasts one minute
- • A small area with climate conditions different from nearby areas
- • A type of ocean current
Q9. What is rain shadow effect?
- • A cold current below sea ice
- • A dry area on the leeward side of mountains
- • A storm that follows a river
- • A shadow cast by clouds at sunset
Q10. What is desertification?
- • The formation of coral reefs
- • The movement of glaciers into valleys
- • The spread or worsening of desert-like conditions
- • The freezing of a river