Factors that Affect Climate

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The Factors that Affect Climate
Grade Nine Socials
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What Affects Weather and Climate? There are FIVE
Factors 1. Ocean Currents 2. Air Masses 3.
Latitude 4. Proximity to Water 5. Elevation
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Ocean Currents
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1 Ocean Currents

• The worlds oceans are constantly in motion.
  Tides move the water up and down while currents
  move the water from place to place.
• Gulf Stream Ocean current from the south. It
  brings warm temperatures to the south-eastern
  waters of the Atlantic provinces.
• Labrador Current Flowing from the north. It
  brings cold water to much of the Atlantic coast.
• When warm, humid air blows from the south over
  colder waters, fog is formed.

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How do ocean currents affect climate? Warm
Currents warmer climate Cold Currents cooler
climate
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The Gulf Stream
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2 Air Masses

• Large volumes of air with similar temperatures
  and moisture conditions.
• They affect the climate because they take on the
  temperature and humidity characteristics of an
  area.
• It moves as a result of changing pressure
  conditions. Its leading edge is called a Front.
• Continental Arctic This cold mass comes from
  Northern Canada and feels cold and dry.
• Maritime Tropical air that comes from the
  Caribbean and feels warm and moist.
• Maritime Polar air that comes from the Atlantic
  and feels cool and moist.

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Air Masses
When air masses meet at a front, the collision
often results in changeable weather, or rainfall.
Look at the illustrations of cold and warm
fronts. Describe how cold and warm fronts form.
Can either kind of front bring rainy or foggy
weather?
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Warm Fronts

• A warm front generally moves from southwest to
  northeast and the air behind a warm front is
  warmer and more moist than the air ahead of it.
• When a warm front passes through, the air
  becomes warmer and more humid than it did before.
  
• A warm front is represented by a solid line with
  semicircles pointing towards the colder air and
  in the direction of movement.

Can you spot the warm cold fronts?
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Cold Fronts

• Cold fronts generally move from northwest to
  southeast.
• The air behind a cold front is noticeably colder
  and drier than the air ahead of it.
• As a symbol, a cold front is represented by a
  solid line with triangles along the front
  pointing towards the warmer air and in the
  direction of movement.

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3 Latitude

• One of the most important influences on climate
  is latitude.
• How far north or south of the equator a region is
  influences how warm or cold it will be.
• The amount of heat energy (radiation) that the
  earth receives depends on the angle of the suns
  rays.
• Because the earths surface is round, sunshine is
  more intense at the lower latitudes.
• Because the earth is tilted on its axis, sunshine
  also varies with the seasons. During the summer,
  the suns rays are closer, and therefore are also
  more intense!

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Latitude
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How does latitude affect climate? As latitude
________, the average annual temperature
_________.
increases
decreases
Temperature
0 Latitude 90
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4 Proximity to Water

• Sunshine heats the land and water at different
  rates.
• Areas close to large bodies of water stay cooler
  in the summer, and warmer in the winter than
  inland areas.
• This greatly influences the climate of
  communities that are close to the ocean.

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Closeness to Large Bodies of Water
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Continental and Maritime Climate

• Continental Climate
• Usually found in the interior of large land
  masses.
• They are usually a long distance from large
  bodies of water.
• These areas experience hot summers and cold
  winters. The result is a large temp. range.
• Examples Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, parts
  of Ontario, parts of Quebec.

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Continental and Maritime Climate

• Maritime Climate
• Usually found along the coastal areas near the
  ocean.
• They experience a cool summer and a relatively
  warm/mild winter.
• Examples P.E.I., Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New
  Brunswick, parts of Quebec.

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How does closeness to a large body of water
affect climate? Water __________ the
temperature. _______ summers. _______
winters.
moderates
Cooler
Warmer
Cities A B are located at the same latitude.
City B is closer to a large body of water.
Its temperature line is flatter (moderated).
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5 Elevation(The Orographic Effect)

• As height increases, temperatures decrease.
• This is because the air is much thinner at higher
  altitudes. For every 1000FT, the air temperature
  drops by 1 degree!
• One of the THREE types of condensation is
  orographic rainfall.
• This occurs when warm, humid air cools as it
  rises over a high elevation (ex A mountain)
• As air strikes, it is lifted and cooled. Windward
  slopes of mountains tend to be rainy, while the
  leeward side is dry. (Ex West coast of BC)

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Orographic Effect
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Orographic Effect
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The leeward sides of the Adirondacks Catskills
receive much less precipitation
The windward sides of the Adirondacks Catskills
receive a great deal more precipitation
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How does the Orographic Effect affect
climate? Windward Side ___________ Leeward
Side _____________
cool, moist
warm, dry
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Elevation
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Elevation
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During summer, temperature is strongly controlled
by elevation -- cold at the higher reaches of the
Alaska and Brooks Ranges, and warmer in the
lowlands.
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How does elevation affect climate? As elevation
_________, the average annual temperature
__________.
increases
decreases
Temperature
Elevation
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The Three Forms of Condensation

• 1 Orographic Rainfall (already in your notes)
• 2 Convectional Rainfall
• When warm, humid air rises after being warmed
  from a surface below.
• As the air rises quickly it expands, cools, and
  water vapour condenses (for ex over the ocean,
  equatorial regions like the rainforest.
• 3 Frontal Condensation
• When warm, moist air rises over cold air
• When warm air collides with cool air along a
  front, the warm air is forced to rise up and over
  the cool air
• As the warm air gently rises over the cool air,
  clouds form, and condensation occurs.

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Warm and Cold Fronts
When air masses meet at a front, the collision
often results in changeable weather, or rainfall.
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Land and Sea Breezes

• Land Breeze Occurs during the night. Air cools
  and blows off the land towards the ocean.
• Sea Breeze Occurs during the day. Air cools and
  blows off the water towards the land.