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Climate Climate vs. Weather • Climate – the typical weather conditions at a particular location as observed over time. • Weather – the condition of the atmosphere at a particular location and time. Factors That Affect Climate p. Factors Affecting Climate • • • • • • • • L – latitude A – air masses C – continentality E – elevation M – mountain barriers O – ocean currents P – pressure & winds S – storms Brain Break! What do you see? What do the colors represent? What correlation is there between climate and latitude? Latitude • The equator is the hottest area of the earth • The poles are the coldest area of the earth • As you travel North OR South from the equator, temperature decreases Latitude Zones • Low – Hot/Warm all year • Mid – Temperate with seasonal changes • High – Cold all year Brain Break! Turn to your partner and discuss how you would fill in the blanks and graph. Temperature increases the average As latitude _________, decreases annual temperature __________. 0° Latitude 90° Air Masses • In the Northern hemisphere, cold air from the polar regions comes from the north. Hot air from the tropics comes from the south (this is opposite in the southern hemisphere). Continentality Places in the interior of large landmasses experience more drastic seasonal changes than places located near the coasts SO….. –The farther a location is from a large body of water, the greater change between winter and summer. Sea heats up slowly and cools slowly. Land heats up quickly and cools quickly. Brain Break! So….what is the difference in temperature between Houston and Galveston? Elevation • As elevation increases, temperature decreases (basically -3.5 for every 1000 feet) So it would be 35 cooler at the top of a 10,000 foot mountain than it would be at the bottom. Brain Break! Little Susie is going on vacation. She will spend one day in Location A and one in Location B . Based on the illustration, what clothes would you tell her to pack? B A Mountain Barriers • Mountains can stop storms and air masses. • Mountains are also responsible for the orographic effect: Wind containing moisture hits the windward side of a mountain. The moisture full clouds are too heavy to make it over the mountain so precipitation occurs. Rainshadow Effect Rainshadow Effect The rainshadow region in Tirunelveli, India was created by the presence of the Western Ghats which block the monsoon winds from the west. On Hawaii, winds meet the mountains of Mauna Kea to the south and Kohala to the north. Brain Break! So based on the climate you want to live in when you’re older, what side of the mountain would you want to live on? Ocean Currents • Can be warm or cold depending on their starting location • Affect the climate of coastal areas Brain Break! How do ocean currents affect climate? Warm Currents: Cold Currents: warmer climate _________ cooler ________climate Pressure and Prevailing Winds • High pressure is heavy, cold air. Low pressure is warm, light air. Heat rises and gets pushed up by the cold air. • Prevailing winds are the type of winds a certain region normally receives. Climate Zones Climate Zones • Tropical Wet Brazil Amazon Rainforest, Brazil Climate Zones • Tropical Wet and Dry Mabini, Batangas, Philippines. Climate Zones • Semiarid Topeka, Kansas Kansas Wheat field Climate Zones • Desert Timbuktu, Mali (rain measured in millimeters) Sahara Desert Climate Zones • Mediterranean Spanish citrus farm Climate Zones • Marine West Coast Seattle, Washington Climate Zones • Humid Subtropical Sugarcane field, Southern Louisiana Climate Zones • Humid Continental Blue Knob Mountain, Pennsylvania Climate Zones • Subarctic Banff National Park, Canada Climate Zones • Tundra Caribou – Brooks Range, Alaska Climate Zones • Ice Cap Greenland – Ice Cap Climate Zones • Highland Mt. Whitney, California Cuzco, Peru Bill Nye and Wind Storms • Where polar winds meet westerlies there are commonly storms. When hot air masses and cold air masses collide – there are storms! Tornadoes in the Midwest are great examples! Brain Break! How is Houston’s climate affected by storms? Did you know that hurricanes are not called hurricanes in other parts of the world????