Climatographs for the City of Toronto – THEN vs. NOW.

Climatographs for the City of Toronto – THEN vs. NOW

Climate Data for Toronto, ON, 1840-1859

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Average Monthly Precipitation (mm) Average Monthly Temperature (degrees celsius)


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axis labels and units

scales are the same for each graph

title on each graph

legend for each graph

temperature (dots)secondary y-axis

precipitation (bar)primary y-axis

Question #7

Study each climatograph.

Write a few sentences describing the data, such as monthly data changes and if you think the temperature and precipitation are related.

1840-1859 (19 years)

The temperature (line graph) is lowest in February, rises to a maximum in July and then falls back .

Average monthly temperatures are lower (cooler) for the year.

The precipitation (bar graph) rises irregularly and then declines irregularly. More precipitation in spring and summer.

Average annual precipitation 64.42 mm.


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average yearly precipitation 64.42 mm average yearly temperature 6.6 degrees


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1971-2000 (19 years)

The temperature is lowest in January .(line graph)

Average monthly temperatures are slightly higher for the year

The precipitation is fairly constant all year round. (bar graph)

Average annual precipitation 69.67 mm.

average yearly precipitation 69.67 mm average yearly temperature 9.2 degrees

Question #8

Compare the two climatographs, and describe any differences you observe between them. Explain any differences.

There appears to be more precipitation in the winter now compared to in the 1800’s.

Spring and summer temperatures are now several degrees warmer.

The temperature now is lowest in January vs. back then it was lowest in February.

Overall, the temperatures are generally higher (9.2C) now and there is also more precipitation in total (69.67 mm) .


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average yearly precipitation 69.67 mm average yearly temperature 9.2 degreesaverage yearly precipitation 64.42 mm average yearly temperature 6.6 degrees

Question #9

What are the advantages of using spreadsheet software over graphing by hand?

Spreadsheets are faster, and once the data has been entered, a variety of different representations may be viewed.

Question #10

What factors could have affected the climate between 1840 and now?

The yearly temperature trend is not much different.

(temp. starts low gradually rising to a peak and then declining)

The average monthly temperatures are just slightly higher than they use to be making it warmer.


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Temperature:

Why ?

Our modern cities have modern equipment making it warmer than it use to be.

Cars

Powerplants

People

Industry

Cities create a lot of pollution and which traps heat.

Because the average temperatures are slightly warmer, there is more evaporation.

More evaporation means more precipitation and storms in some areas.

773 mm then vs. 876 mm now


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There is much more precipitation in February.

Precipitation:

Question #11

Would you feel confident making a statement about climate change in Toronto based on this information. If you answered “yes”, why and what would the statement be? If you answered “no”, why not ?


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No. This data does not allow us to draw a firm conclusion about climate change in general.

This is a very small data set pertaining to one location.

Much more complete information is needed over a longer time span before a solid conclusion can be drawn.

For example, this data is for the city of Toronto.

Data for non-cities should be examined.

(compare data for Rural areas vs. Urban areas)

Also the climate data graphed was for the period 1971-2000.

Most of this time period was before many of the effects of climate were noticed.

Question #12

Why would you construct climatographs for data averaged over a number of years instead of just an individual year?

Calculating the average temperature and precipitation over multiple years helps to eliminate the unique weather effects that is observed over single year.

Averages provides a better measure of the climate in a certain area.

Climatographs for the City of Toronto – THEN vs. NOW.

Documents

industry slide

powerplants slide

precipitation bar graph

average temperatures

mmaverage yearly temperature

yearly temperature trend

temperature line graph

degrees warmer