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
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