What Causes Climate?

1
What Causes Climate?
2
Climate

• Weather is day-to-day events in local areas.
• Climate, refers to the average, year-after-year
  conditions of
• temperature
• precipitation
• winds
• clouds in an area.
• Two main factors determine the climate of a
  region.
• temperature
• precipitation

3
Factors Affecting Temperature

• The main factors that influence temperature are
• Latitude
• Altitude
• Distance from large bodies of water
• Ocean currents

4
Latitude
5
Latitude

• Climates of locations farther from the equator
  are cooler than climates of areas closer to the
  equator.
• The sun's rays hit Earth's surface most directly
  at the equator.
• The tropical zone is the area near the equator,
  between about 23.5 north latitude and 23.5
  south latitude.
• The temperate zones are between the tropical and
  the polar zonesfrom about 23.5 to 66.5 north
  and 23.5 to 66.5 south latitudes.
• The polar zones extend from about 66.5 to 90
  north and 66.5 to 90 south latitudes.

6
Altitude

• Highland areas everywhere have cool climates, no
  matter what their latitude.

7
Distance From Large Bodies of Water  

• Oceans or large lakes can affect temperatures.
• Oceans make temperatures of nearby land less
  extreme.
• Most coasts have mild marine climates.
• relatively warm winters and cool summers.
• Most areas inland have continental climates.
• Continental climates have more extreme
  temperatures than marine climates.
• Winters are cold, while summers are warm or hot.

8
Ocean

• Many marine climates are influenced by ocean
  currents.
• Warm and cold ocean water flow throughout the
  world.
• Waves, caused by wind transfer heat energy from
  one place to another.
• Oceans provide necessary moisture for hurricanes
  to develop.

9
Factors Affecting Precipitation

• The main factors that affect precipitation are
• Prevailing winds
• The presence of mountains

10
Evaporation

• Evaporation adds water vapor to the atmosphere.
• Maritime air masses form over large bodies of
  water.

11
Prevailing Winds

• Weather patterns depend on the movement of huge
  air masses.
• Air masses are moved from place to place by
  prevailing winds.

12
Mountain Ranges

• A mountain range in the path of prevailing winds
  can influence where precipitation falls.
• Rain or snow falls on the windward side of the
  mountains, the side the oncoming wind hits.
• The land on the leeward side
  of the mountains
  
  downwind is in
  a rain shadow.

13
The Seasons

• Most places on Earth outside the tropics have
  four seasons winter, spring, summer, and autumn

14
Tilted Axis

• The seasons are caused by the tilt of Earth's
  axis as Earth travels around the sun.
• The axis is an imaginary line through Earth's
  center that passes through both poles.
• Earth turns, or rotates, around this axis once
  each day.

15
(No Transcript)