Download WHAT FACTORS AFFECT CLIMATE

WHAT FACTORS AFFECT CLIMATE?
Climate describes the characteristic pattern of weather in an area, over a
long period of time. Factors affecting climate are:
 Latitutude. How far north or south place is from the Equator. At
the Equator, solar energy is concentrated and causes high
temperatures.
 Altitude. The height above the sea level. The higher a place is, the
colder it will be.
 Distance from the sea.
- Sea water heats up
slowly and cools down
slowly. In winter coastal areas keep warmer.
- Land heats up quickly and cools down quickly. In summer, cold sea
keeps coastal areas cooler.
 Ocean currents.
-Warm ocean currents flow up from the tropics to the poles and
warm up surrounding areas, especially in winter.
-Cold ocean currents can lower temperatures in an area.
Clouds and precipitations
 Rain occurs when condensation makes large, heavy droplets
which fall to Earth. Snow and hail occur when the water vapour
in the air freezes.
Hailstones
Snow
 Clouds form when rising air cools. Some of water vapour
molecules in the air condense to form cloud droplets or ice
crystals.
There are three basic types of clouds: cirrus, cumulus and stratus.
Cirrus mean fair weather
Cumulus are like cotton
Stratus are horizontal clouds
Key vocabulary
height (n.)
above (a.)
to heat up (v.)
to cool down (v.)
to flow up (v.)
to lower (v.)
droplet (n.)
to freeze (v.)
Activities
1. Look at the the four factors that affect climate. Can
you define how these affect the climate in your part of
the country?
2. What will the weather be like if you are looking at
cirrus clouds? And if you are at cumulonimbus
clouds?