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Chapter 25
Climate
What is climate?
 Climate is long-term weather. It is an average of the
weather over many, many years
Factors that Affect Climate
 Factors that Affect Climate
 Latitude
- colder in the poles
 Elevation - colder in mountain regions
 Water Bodies – less temperature change
 Topography  Atmospheric Circulation
Latitude
 If latitude increases, the amount of sunlight decreases.
 Higher
latitude = closer to North or South Pole
 Lower latitude = closer to the Equator
Elevation
 The higher the
elevation, the colder
the climate!
Water Bodies
 The temperature of a water body (ex: an ocean or
lake) affects the temperature of the air above it.
 Areas closer to water have smaller changes in
temperature.
Topography
 Mountains play an important role in the amount of
precipitation that falls over an area, also affects wind patterns
 Rain Shadow Effect
- Faces the wind
- Air rises
- Air cools and
condenses
- Precipitation occurs
- Downwind
- Air sinks
- Air warms and
dries
- No precipitation
Atmospheric Circulation
 Remember: Global winds transfer heat and moisture
around the Earth
 Moves warm air toward the poles
 Moves cool air toward the equator
 Moves moist air from above the ocean to land
Major Climate Zones
Major Climate Zones
Types of Climates (biomes) Assignment
Use the computer to look this up
 Look up the following
climate zones and answer all
questions for each zone:
1. Where are these zone
located on Earth?
2. What is the annual rain fall
and temperature?
3. How many seasons are
there?
 Rainforest
 Deciduous forest
 Chaparral
 Grassland
 Desert
 Tundra
 Taiga
 Alpine
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/
summary.html
Major Climate Zones
Tropical Climates
 Climates without winters and with lots of
precipitation due to evaporation at the equator
Mid-Latitude Climates
 Located between 25° and 50° latitude
 They have different seasons (winter, spring, summer,
fall)
Dry Climates
 Located along 23.5°N and 23.5°S (the Tropics of Cancer
and Capricorn)
 Not a lot of rain, or the heat makes all the water
evaporate.
Climate Change
 Volcanic eruptions:
emit aerosols (volcanic
ash, dust, and sulfur
particles)
 Aerosols
reflect solar
radiation, which causes
Earth’s lower
atmosphere to cool down
Climate Change
 Earth motions: Causes long term climate changes
 Plate
tectonics can cause geographic changes
(formation of mountains, continental drift) which
affect climate
Climate Change
 Human Activity can also change our climate.
 What happens when the temperature increases?
 More
evaporation = more water vapor in the air
 Sea ice melting = rising water levels
CO2 Emissions
Assignments
 Notes summary
 Last class assignment (online biomes search)
 Work on the test review worksheet must have at
least 15 questions done before leaving class