Download Weather and climate

Factors Affecting Climate
Altitude/Elevation
1. Air pressure decreases as altitude increases. It
happens because the air becomes thinner and it
holds less heat. Therefore, the overall
temperature is colder at places with high altitude.
2. Temp. drop 4°F every 1000 feet.
Latitude
 Latitude affects climate by influencing the intensity of the
sun or the solar energy received in a region. The angle and
duration of the sun's energy determine surface temperature
so that higher latitudes receive less heat, but lower
latitudes closer to the equator receive significantly more
heat.
Summers in the
northern hemisphere
and winters in the
southern hemisphere
the tilt of the earth is the key.
When the Northern
Hemisphere is tilted towards
the sun, the Southern
Hemisphere is tilted away
from the sun. This leads to
summer in the Northern
Hemisphere and winter in the
Southern Hemisphere as the
Northern Hemisphere
experiences the most direct
sunlight and solar heating
Winters in the
northern
hemisphere and
summers in the
southern
hemisphere
During winter in the
Northern Hemisphere,
the Southern
Hemisphere is tilted
towards the sun,
which now
experiences summer
Transitional
phase of earth
This phase happens
when the sun is being
focused directly at the
equator and both the
hemisphere receives
equal amount of
sunlight.
Distance From Sea
 The sea moderates the climate.
 The water heats up and cools down slowly as compared
to the land. This means that coastal locations tend to
be cooler in summer and warmer in winter as
compared to the inland places with same latitude and
altitude.
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Prevailing winds
 The prevailing wind is the most frequent wind
direction a location experiences.
 Winds that blow from the sea often bring rain to the
coast and dry weather to inland areas.
 The winds that blow from inland areas will be cold
example winds from central Europe
Ocean Currents
 Ocean currents can increase or reduce temperatures.
Vegetation
 Plants take in CO2 (the most abandoned green house
gas) through the process of photosynthesis which
Leeds to less trapping of sun radiation.
 Plants also cool the landscape directly through the
process known as transpiration. When the
surrounding atmosphere heats up, plants will often
release excess water into the air.
Biomes
 Large scale eco-system are called biomes
 There are 10 major biomes
Different types
of whether
Desert
 When people think of a desert, they imagine hot, dry
and barren areas without water. Although this is one
type of desert, there are other areas that most would
not think of as a desert.
Tropical Desert
 It is the hottest biome of the world
 It is an area with less precipitation and with extreme
climates
Equatorial wind belts
 Most of the world deserts are made by theequatorial
wind belts.
 At the equator warm air is always rising. This created
wind belts that blow north and south away from the
equator.
 And when air descends at the tropics of cancer and
Capricorn it is too dry for clouds to form. No clouds
means no rain producing Deserts. Eg- shara desert
Rainshadow
Rainshadow also
produce Deserts. Any
moisture in the air
will fall as air passes
high mountain
ranges, so land
beyond the
mountains receives
little or no rain.
Cold Currents
Cold Currents also
produce deserts.
The southwestern
coasts of Africa and
South America are
swept by cold currents
upwelling from the
ocean floor. These
currents cool the air
that passes over them,
causing the water in the
air to fall as rain before
it reaches the land.
Living in the desert
 People who live in deserts must protect themselves
from high temperatures during the daytime and low
temperatures at night and in the winter.
 Some people live in mud houses that are painted white
. They keep out the heat during the daytime and
protect people from cold
 The nomads wear long woolen robes
called barracans for protection against the hot sun and
stinging sandstorms. They wear turbans wound around
the head and neck and sandals to guard their feet on
the hot ground.
Human activities in desert
 Building solar power plants is the latest human
activity developed in hot desert areas. Extreme
temperatures in deserts makes it the ideal place for
producing solar energy.
 Hot deserts are attractive places for adventurous
tourists in various countries.
 Hot deserts are a source of enormous wealth in
natural resources like petroleum and copper.
Bibliography
 http://www.ask.com/science/latitude-affect-climate-
931da822a61c6c45
 http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/edu/k12/.Tilt
 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/606540/
tropical-and-subtropical-desert-climate
 http://www.ehow.com/info_8203053_human-activityhot-deserts.html