List the organizations involved in the accumulation of weather data, and explain their respective roles

What will be the ideal response?


ANSWER: A United Nations agency—the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which includes more than 175 nations—is responsible for the international exchange of weather data and certifies that the observation procedures do not vary among nations. This is an extremely important task, since the observations must be comparable. Weather information from all over the world is transmitted electronically to government meteorological centers worldwide. This includes the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), a branch of the National Weather Service (NWS) located at the University of Maryland in College Park, just outside Washington, D.C. Here, the massive job of analyzing the data, running models, preparing weather maps and charts, and predicting the weather on a global and national basis begins. From NCEP, observations and computer model output are transmitted to U.S. private forecasting firms and public agencies. Many of NCEP’s products are also posted on the web. Across the nation, dozens of NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) use the information to issue local and regional weather forecasts. Standard forecasts are prepared every 12 hours and updated as needed in between these intervals. Private companies produce forecasts for the public, sent through media outlets and the Internet, as well as tailored forecasts for clients in transportation, recreation, and other areas of special interest.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

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In 2012, economist Gernot Wagner estimated that the benefits of the U.S. Clean Air Act exceeded the costs of complying with the law by ____.

A. 2 to 1 B. 5 to 1 C. 10 to 1 D. 20 to 1 E. 30 to 1

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

When considering the effect of a catalyst on a system to which Le Chatelier's Principle can be applied, which of the following is true?

A) Addition of a catalyst has absolutely no effect on the reaction. B) Addition of a catalyst speeds up the forward reaction. C) Addition of a catalyst speeds up the reverse reaction. D) Addition of a catalyst speeds up both the forward and reverse reaction by the same amount.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences