Climate

Cy WoodsWorld Geography

What is climate?

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

period of time

• What is the climate of Texas?

Siberia?

Sahara Desert?

Amazon Rainforest?

Chicago, Illinois?

Factors influencing climate

• 4 factors can influence climate– Latitude– Wind & ocean currents– Elevation– Topography

Wind Currents

• wind currents move cold and warm air around the earth

Ocean Currents

• Act like rivers of water flowing through the ocean– Pushes cold

or warm water around the earth

Elevation

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

location?

Mt. Fuji, Japan

Notice that the top of most tall mountain peaks is covered

with snow, and the base is not.

The higher in elevation you are, the colder it is.

• 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 or rain, depending on the season.

The term for the dry side of the mountain is called?

Rain Shadow

ELEVATION

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

constant year round temperature, whether hot or cold

Where would you find examples of “continentality” in the USA and around the world?

Continentality - Areas farther away from the ocean experience more extremes in variation of temperature

It gets really hot in summer, then really cold in winter

Latitude• 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)

Which zone do most people live in?

Practice

• Open you Atlas to page 16• Tell me whether the following countries

are in low, mid, or high latitude:

Indonesia

Denmark

JapanIran

Venezuela

Greenland

South Africa

Why do you think there are few countries in the high latitudes?

Morocco

Finland

Russia

Where do you think most people in Russia live?

World Climate Zones

World Climate Zones1. Polar

• Icecap• Tundra• Subarctic

2. Temperate (Continental)• Humid Continental• Marine West Coast• Humid Subtropical

3. Arid (Desert)• Semiarid• Desert

4. Tropical• Tropical Wet• Tropical Wet & Dry

5. Mediterranean6. Mountain (Highlands)

Practice

• Open the Atlas to page 24.• Which of the 6 climate zones are

the following cities:•Polar•Temperate•Arid•Tropical•Mediterranean•Highland

Atlanta, GA (USA)

Stockholm, Sweden

Cairo, Egypt

Sydney, Australia

Kabul, Afghanistan

Rome, Italy

Murmansk, Russia

Comparing World Climate to the US

• Using your textbook, compare the following climates to a city in the United States

• Then using the textbook, look up the characteristics of the climate zone.

• Write the characteristics, climate zone name, and the cities down on your paper

• Karachi, Pakistan• Jakarta, Indonesia• Moscow, Russia• Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

•Tehran, Iran•Perth, Australia•Buenos Aires, Argentina•Yakutsk, Russia

Describing World Climate

• With your information you collected comparing the world climate to the United States, create a short paragraph describing the climate at each location.

• Pretend you are studying abroad for a semester in each of the 8 locations. Describe to your family what the climate is like there.