Climate Magazine pages 4-5

​What affects Climate?

​Clouds and fronts are always changing. That’s why weather predictions or forecasts go only about a week into the future. On the other hand, climate is mostly the same over decades or even centuries. Why? Because your climate is influenced by mountains, oceans, and other features of the landscape, or by how close you are to the equator or the poles. Locations don’t change, and landforms change very, very slowly. Their steady influence makes for regular kinds of weather patterns, and so they create a steady climate.

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Multiple Choice

What influences climate?

• mountains

• oceans

• landscape feautures

• all the above

Winds and Climate:

​Earth has regular global winds that follow general patterns. Warm air is lighter than cold air. So air warmed by the sun rises. Cold air then sinks and takes its place. This creates a circular pattern of rising and sinking air, which creates winds.

Subject | Subject

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Multiple Choice

Which type of air is lighter?

• warm

• cold

​The Trade Winds...

​westerlies, and polar easterlies are winds that blow close to Earth’s surface. Trade winds come from the subtropics and blow toward the equator. North of the equator, they are called northeasterlies. South of the equator, they are known as southeasterlies. Westerlies are winds in the middle latitudes that blow from the subtropics toward the poles. The doldrums are ocean regions near the equator where the winds are light and unpredictable.

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Multiple Choice

Where do trade winds come from?

• subtropics

• polar

• mountains

• arrid

Patters of rising and sinking...

​air are called cells. There are three kinds: Hadley cells, Ferrel cells, and polar cells. Here’s how a Hadley cell works: Strong sunlight at the equator makes the air very warm. The hot air rises, and then spreads out north and south of the equator. The air cools and falls back down at around 30° latitude, both north and south. As the air falls, it piles up, and the air pressure grows. High air pressure brings dry weather. So places around 30° latitude are some of the driest in the world. Deserts are often located in these areas.

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Multiple Select

There are three types of air cells. Which is a type of air cell? Click al that apply.

• Ferrel Cell

• Polar Cell

• Hadley Cell

• Cell phone

Sunlight and Climate

​1. Sunlight becomes less direct as you get closer to Earth’s poles. Indirect sunlight delivers less heat to the planet’s surface. That’s why climates near the North Pole and the South Pole are cold.

2. In regions near the equator, the sun travels almost directly overhead. Direct sunlight focuses a lot of heat on the planet’s surface. So climates near the equator are hot.

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Multiple Choice

Climates near the equator are__________

• cold

• hot

• rainy

​Mapmakers use Imagery

​lines to mark areas of Earth. Latitude lines go around the planet. The equator marks 0° latitude. The other lines of latitude mark the distance between the equator and the North Pole or the South Pole. ▶

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Oceans and Climate

​Coastal climates are often moderate (not too hot or too cold) because of the oceans. Ocean waters change temperature more slowly than land does. In the fall, inland temperatures drop, but warm ocean breezes let coastal areas stay warm longer. In the spring, ocean breezes are cool. They keep coastal areas from warming up quickly.

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Multiple Choice

Coastal climates are not too _____ and not to _____

• hot cold

• rainy icy

• dry humid

​Mountains and Climate

​Mountains force air to rise over them. Air coming off oceans is moist. As moist air rises, clouds often form, and rain or snow falls. The precipitation falls mostly on the peaks or on the windward side of the mountains – the side the wind blows on. That means the leeward side (the side sheltered from the wind) is often dry. This dry effect is called a rain shadow.

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Multiple Choice

As moist air rises, ______ form and ______ or _______ falls.

• clouds rain snow

• clouds hail or ice

​Altitude or Elevation

​(the height of the land above sea level) affects climate, too. As air rises, it gets thinner and cools off. For every 1,000 feet you climb up a mountain, you’ll feel the temperature drop by 5.5°F. A mountain with big, leafy trees at its bottom may have only scrubby plants at the top. A very tall mountain may have a snow line. Snow never melts above that line, and few, if any, plants can grow there.

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​Jet Streams and Climate

​air known as jet streams flow through the upper atmosphere. (The atmosphere is all the air that surrounds the planet.) Jet streams can carry stormy weather with them. This photo shows a jet stream moving clouds over Egypt. (The Nile River is near the middle of the picture.) Jet streams are stronger in winter than in summer. However, they usually flow in regular patterns and affect the weather in fairly regular ways. So jet streams have an impact on climate.

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Multiple Choice

Jet streams are ________ in the winter than in summer.

• stronger

• weaker

• the same