Download climate and vegetation - 6thgrade

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION
Section 3 pg.34
Geography 7th Grade
The Difference Between Weather and Climate
• Weather is the day-to-day changes in the air. It is measured by
temperature and precipitation.
– Temperature is how hot or cold the air feels.
– Precipitation is water that falls to the ground as rain, sleet, hail, or snow.
• Climate is the average weather of a place over many years. The
Earth has many climate regions.
– Climate varies among different latitudes and is also greatly affected by
wind, water, and landforms.
• So the difference between them is that weather is what it is like
every day, while climate is the average weather of a place over
many years.
The Impact of Wind and Water
• Without wind and water, the Earth would
overheat. Together, wind and water
moderate the effect of the sun’s heat.
• The Earth’s rotation also creates ocean
currents, which are like rivers in the oceans.
•
Oceans also moderate the climate of nearby
land. When the land has warmed during the
summer, the nearby ocean remains cooler. Air
blowing over the ocean becomes cool and
then cools the land. In the winter, the
opposite occurs.
Raging Storms
• Wind and water can make a
climate milder, but they also
create storms.
• Hurricanes are storms that form
over the ocean in the tropics.
Hurricantes rotate in a counterclockwise direction around an
“eye”. They have winds of at least
74 miles per hour and usually
involve heavy rainfall.
• Tornadoes are just as dangerous,
but they affect smaller areas.
Their wind can range from 40
miles per hour to over 300 miles.
Climate and Vegetation
• Every climate region has its own
characteristic, such as amount of rain and
sunlight, temperature, and nutrients.
• Geographers discuss 5 types of climates:
1.-Tropical: climate is hot, wet, and sunny /vegetation is tropical
rainforest
2.-Dry: climate is dry, hot with little rain and sandy/vegetation is sparse
3.-Moderate: climate has moderate rainfall and varied vegetation
4.-Continental: summer temperatures are moderate to hot; winters are
cold/vegetation includes grasslands and forests.
5.-Polar: cold all year round/vegetation includes low shrubs, mosses, and
lichens. No trees and few flowering plants.