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Climate

Different factors affect climate in various ways: 1. Latitude determines intensity and duration of sun exposure, with areas farther from the equator receiving less energy. This leads to arctic, tropical, and temperate climate zones. 2. Ocean currents transport heat across oceans, warming or cooling coastal areas depending on current direction. 3. Elevation influences temperature, with temperatures decreasing about 1°C for every 100 meters of increased altitude. Mountains also impact wind and precipitation patterns. 4. Proximity to water bodies like oceans moderates temperatures, with coastal areas experiencing cooler summers and warmer winters than inland locations at the same latitude.

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Reima Millera
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33 views

Climate

Different factors affect climate in various ways: 1. Latitude determines intensity and duration of sun exposure, with areas farther from the equator receiving less energy. This leads to arctic, tropical, and temperate climate zones. 2. Ocean currents transport heat across oceans, warming or cooling coastal areas depending on current direction. 3. Elevation influences temperature, with temperatures decreasing about 1°C for every 100 meters of increased altitude. Mountains also impact wind and precipitation patterns. 4. Proximity to water bodies like oceans moderates temperatures, with coastal areas experiencing cooler summers and warmer winters than inland locations at the same latitude.

Uploaded by

Reima Millera
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Different Factors Affecting

CLimate
MELCS: Explain how different factors affect the climate of an area
What's the difference between weather and climate?
Weather

Weather is what the forecasters on the TV news predict each day. They tell people about the
temperature, cloudiness, humidity, and whether a storm is likely in the next few days.

It is the condition of the atmosphere at the specific place and time.


Climate

Climate is the average weather in a place over many years.

It is the general pattern of a weather over a long period of time.


Climate is affected by different
factors such as :

• Latitude
• Elevation
• Ocean Current
• Wind
• Relief
• Proximity to Water
Picture Analysis

Latitude
Latitude
• Latitude is the geographic coordinate that
specifies the north-south position of a point on
the surface of the earth.
• It dictates the intensity and duration of sun
exposure to the earth.
• Generally, the farther away from the equator
the region can be found, the lesser the energy
that reaches the ground at any point in time.
Latitude

As the earth's axis is tilted 23.5° to


the perpendicular, the amount of
heat for each latitude varies with
the seasons
There are three general climatic zones with respect to latitude:
arctic, tropic, and temperate.
• Arctic

Arctic regions found at 66.5°N of the North Pole comprise the Arctic region; from 66.5°S to the
South Pole is the Antarctic. Places within the Arctic climate zones are covered with permafrost.
• Arctic Zone

• Winters are severe, the sea freezes, there is little precipitation in the
form of snow.
• During summer, this zone experiences continuous periods of
daylight, but the monthly temperature struggles to rise above
freezing point.
• In these regions, the sun hovers above the horizon at midnight in
the summer and never rises at all, at times, during the winter.
2. Tropic (Hot) Climate

• refers to the zones within latitudes between 5/10° to 35°.


• The equatorial belt experiences a non-arid climate with an average temperature above 18°C.
2. Trophic (Hot Climate)

• Weather condition is humid.


• Due to high temperature, active vertical uplift and precipitation accompanied
with thunderstorms are normal events in tropical climates.
• Sunshine and rainfall are present, which allow the zones to have a luxuriant
vegetation.
• The nights of tropic weather condition are usually covered with clouds and
thereby with a fall in temperature to about 22°C.
2. Trophic (Hot Climate)

• Temperate-refers to zones in a range of latitude between 40° and 60/70°. The North
Temperate Zone extends from the Tropic of Cancer (at about 23.5° north latitude) to
the Arctic Circle (at approximately 66.5° north latitude).
• The South Temperate Zone, on the other hand, extends from the Tropic of Capricorn (at
approximately 23.5° south latitude) to the Antarctic Circle (at approximately 66.5° south
latitude).
3. Temperate Climate

• Unlike arctic and tropic climates, this zone does not experience
extremes of temperature and precipitation.
• There are two types of temperate climate, namely, maritime and
continental.
• Maritime climate is strongly affected by the oceans and has fairly
steady temperatures across the seasons.
• Continental climate increases in land characterized by warmer
summers and colder winter due to the thermal inertia possessed by
the land.
2. Ocean Current
Ocean Current

Ocean Currents - are a continuous and directed movement of the ocean water.
This happens through forces acting on the water, such as difference in salinity, the
waves breaking, temperature, the wind or even the Coriolis Effect.
Ocean Current

As the horizontal currents are moving south or northwards, they carry with them cool or
warm water over an extended distance. It is the displaced water that affects the air, by
warming or cooling it, thereby transferring the same effect to the land surface over
which it blows.
There are three main processes that make the ocean
circulates: tidal forces, wind stress, and density differences.

There are two circulation types of ocean current:

1. Wind-driven circulation, which is forced by wind stress on


the sea surface including a momentum exchange. It
dominates in the upper hundred meters from the sea
surface. 2.
.
There are three main processes that make the ocean
circulates: tidal forces, wind stress, and density differences.
There are two circulation types of ocean current:

2. Thermohaline circulation, which is an "overturning"


circulation in which warm water flows poleward near the
surface and is subsequently converted into cold water that
sinks and flows equatorward in the interior. It is an
important factor in the earth's climate because it transports
roughly 10¹⁰ W of heat poleward into high latitudes, about
one-fourth of the total heat transport of the ocean
circulation system.
Elevation

scientists consider elevation


as one of the factors that
affect climate as it affects
the region's temperature
and precipitation.
Elevation
Altitude affects temperature and
pressure.

As altitude increases, the


corresponding temperature of air
decreases.

For every 100-meter rise in altitude,


temperature decreases by 1°C.

As such, regions in high altitudes


experience low temperatures.
Wind
• Air pressure gradient or the difference
between regions of high and land
pressure creates wind.
• The larger the difference in pressure,
the stronger the winds become.
• There are factors that greatly
influence wind speed and direction:
these are the Coriolis effect and
friction.
The earth's surface
absorbs heat energy
from the sun; and when
it warms up, the heat
diffuses in the
atmosphere, warms it,
and transfers some of
the heat to the upper
layers of the
atmosphere.
In effect, layers of atmosphere
closest to the earth's surface
receive the most heat compared
to the elevated areas. When the
temperature is higher, air in the
atmosphere moves faster and
loses its density. This leads to a
decreased barometric pressure.
Relief

Relief refers to the shape of the land's


surface, It includes aspects, which means
the direction in which a slope faces.
Mountains form a natural barrier that
causes air masses to rise.
Windward mountain slopes, facing moisture-bearing winds, usually receive
more precipitation than either the lower, more level mountain bases.
• Mountain ranges act as barriers to the flow of air across the surface of the earth.
• When a parcel of warm air travels from a low valley region to the foothills of a mountain
range, it is forced to rise along the slope of the mountain (the windward side) as it
encounters higher terrain.
• As the air is lifted up the mountain slope, it cools as it rises — a process known as
"adiabatic cooling."
• This cooling often results in the formation of clouds, and, eventually, precipitation that
falls on the windward slope and at the summit.
_________1. Facing the wind. _______6. Precipitation occurs.
_________2. Low temperature. _______7. Cold air mass starts to absorb heat.
_________3. Forming clouds. _______8. Dry air and less precipitation.
_________4. Air moves down. _______9. Rain shadow.
_________5. Air moves up. _______10. Dessert plants and grasslands.
Proximity to Water

Oceans heat up and cool down


much more slowly than land.
This means that coastal
locations tend to be cooler in
summer and warmer in winter
than places inland at the same
latitude and altitude.
During the day as the land gets
heated up more quickly than the
sea, the hot air over the land rises,
and a local low pressure is created
over it, and cooler air from the sea
rushes to the low-pressure area to
take the place of the risen air. This is
known as sea breeze.
• At night, the sea retains
its warmth longer than
the land, the air over the
sea rises, and there is a
local low-pressure zone
created over it.
• Air from the land then
rushes to the low-
pressure zone over the
sea to take the place of
the risen air. This is
known as land breeze.
Well Done!

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