Climate Factors Cy Woods World Geography 2012-2013.

Climate Factors

Cy WoodsWorld Geography

2012-2013

What is climate?

• Climate – what is the weather generally like there?– Climate is weather over a long

period of time

Siberia?

Sahara Desert?

Amazon Rainforest?

Chicago, Illinois?

What is the climate of Texas?

Elevation

• Elevation: the distance above sea level– How high is the

location?– The higher in

elevation you are, the colder it is. Mt. Fuji, Japan

Notice that the top of most tall mountain peaks is covered

with snow, and the base is not.

That’s why people who climb Mt. Everest have to wear heavy coats

Factors influencing climate

• 4 major factors can influence climate– Elevation

Latitude

Wind Systems and Ocean Currents

Continentality

Elevation

• Mountains can affect climate greatly– Wet clouds cool as

they move up a side of a mountain, eventually getting heavy enough to begin to snow.

– The clouds then become dry as the move over to the other side of the mountain, leaving that side more like a desert. The term for the dry side of

the mountain is called?

Things that impact climate

• Elevation

• 3 zones – Low, Middle (Temperate), High– Low Latitude – Tropics

• Low numbers (0° - 23.5° N & S)

– Middle Latitude – Temperate• Mid numbers (23.5° S -

60° S & 23.5° N - 60° N)

– High Latitude – Polar • High numbers (60° S -

90° S & 60° N - 90° N)

• WHERE DO MOST PEOPLE LIVE? --

• Temperate Zones

Things that affect Climate

LATITUDE

Latitude

• Which latitudes get the most precipitation?

Which climate zone would that be?

Wind Currents

• Wind currents move cold and warm air around the earth

• Low pressure air & high pressure air

For thousands of years, ship travel was dependent on the wind and ocean currents.

Why does the Great Plains of the USA have more tornadoes than any place in the world?

The cold wind currents from the Rockies clash with the warm wind currents from the Gulf of Mexico.

Ocean Currents• Act like rivers of

water flowing through the ocean– Pushes cold

or warm water around the earth

• Ocean currents affect the high or low pressure that determines winds– Ocean & wind

currents work together

Things that impact climate

• Wind and Ocean CurrentsNorth Atlantic Drift

Continentality

• Proximity to the ocean:– Areas closer to the ocean have more of a

constant year round temperature, whether hot or cold

– Areas farther away from the ocean experience more extremes in variation of temperature• It gets really hot in summer, then really cold in winter

• This is called CONTINENTALITY!– Russia and Midwest US are two examples of

this

Things that impact climate

• Continentality

Assignment

• Look up your three assigned cities around the world. Explain as much about their climate as possible using only the maps on pg. A2-A5 and the information from the climate map on page 60.

• Write down, based on the factors discussed what the climate of these cities might be like.

GROUP A1. London2. Kinshasa, Dem

Rep of Congo (Africa)

3. Bombay

GROUP B1.Seattle2.Moscow3.Sydney

GROUP C1.Rome2.Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)3.Tokyo

GROUP D1.Brazillia, Brazil2.Beijing, China3.Chicago, Illinois

GROUP E1.Lima, Peru2.Miami, Florida3.Ouogadougou,Burkina Faso