Impact of Geographic Features on Climate

The Impact of Geographic Features on Climate

Open Ended

REVIEW QUESTION:

What is the difference between weather and climate?

Weather - immediate conditions of the environment of a particular location

Climate - long term patterns in a region's weather.

• Today is warm and sunny = weather

• Summer is normally warm and sunny = climate

​

Weather vs. Climate

Open Ended

Using what you've learned so far this year, describe what determines a region's climate.

​Regions that receive more sunlight tend to be warmer.

Remember this is determined by latitude.

​​Sunlight

Higher elevations tend to be cooler and mountains can block rain from reaching some areas.

​​Mountains

Areas near water tend to receive more precipitation and have more moderate temperatures year round.

​​Water

​Forests & other vegetation can cover large areas, changing the amount of light absorbed beneath them and therefore heating or cooling the area.

Living Things

Multiple Choice

Part of the Sun's energy that reaches the Earth's surface is absorbed by land and water as heat. The Earth's surface then releases heat back to the atmosphere.

Which of the following is true about this solar energy that is absorbed and released by Earth's surface as heat?

• All of this heat escapes the Earth's atmosphere, which keeps the planet hot.

• Much of the heat is trapped low in the atmosphere and is a major factor in determining Earth's climate.

• Much of the heat is trapped at the top of Earth's atmosphere to protect Earth from ultraviolet radiation.

• All of this heat escapes the Earth's atmosphere, which keeps the planet cool.

Remember that differences in solar radiation at different latitudes on Earth result in different climate zones.

Climate Zones

Locations near the equator receive the most sunlight while areas farther from the equator receive less.

Open Ended

What happens to the warm air at the equator?

Warm air at the equator will rise and moves towards the poles until it reaches the beginning of the temperate zone.

In the Northern Hemisphere, warm air arriving from the equator at the southern end of the temperate zone will cool and sink and travel along the surface back towards the equator or to the northern end of the temperate zone to form a convection cycle.

Multiple Choice

When sunlight strikes the ground it warms the ground and the air near it. The warm air near the ground then rises as it expands. What does this process typically result in on the ground?

• Freezing conditions near the ground generate a high pressure system.

• Clouds push the warm air back to the ground.

• Cool air rushes in to replace the rising warm air.

• Floodwater rushes in to cool the hot surface.

At the northern end of the temperate region, air warms and rises. Some of this warm air travels south, where it sinks at the southern end of the temperate region. Some of the warm air travels toward the North Pole.

​What do you think happens next?

Warm air traveling toward the North Pole gradually cools as it nears the pole, where sunlight is limited. The air becomes very cold and sinks toward the Earth's surface. The sinking cold air then travels along the surface back toward the south, where it will gradually warm and rise again.

Multiple Choice

The diagram shows the general pattern of air circulation in the atmosphere.

Many of the world's deserts are located at latitudes slightly below 30 degrees North. This includes the region marked X on the map. Which of the following statements best explains this?

• Most of the moisture is removed from the air before it rises into the upper atmosphere.

• Moist air near the equator tends to flow away from land and toward the oceans.

• The air descending from the upper atmosphere contains very little moisture.

• Air near the equator moves quickly as Earth rotates, so it cannot carry much moisture.

​Locations at higher elevations tend to be cooler because the atmosphere at higher elevations is less dense and it holds less heat.

​​Elevation Impacts on Climate

Open Ended

When a large body of water is located near a mountain, warm, moist air from the body of water will travel up the mountain.

What do you think happens to that air as it travels up in elevation?

As the air rises in elevation, it cools and condenses; it will release the moisture as rain. By the time the air reaches the top

of the mountain, it will have dried out.

​This cold, dry air

will then flow down

the other side of

the mountain. We

call the dry, inland

side of the mountain

a rain shadow.

Multiple Choice

Which side of the mountain would be very dry and receive very little rain?

• the coastal side

• the inland side

Open Ended

Recall: Areas located near large bodies of water have more stable climates than areas that are farther inland.

Why is that?

Water heats and cools more slowly than land does.

This makes coastal temperatures less variable (they stay about the same all year).

Open Ended

Areas that are close to the water also generally have more precipitation than areas that are inland.

Why is that?

As water evaporates from the bodies of water, clouds form. These clouds move over land, where they cause rain.

Multiple Choice

When clouds pass over mountain ranges, precipitation often occurs on the seaward side of the mountain. Which of the following explains why this happens?

• The mountains create a high pressure system which leads to rainfall.

• The mountains release heat energy, which warms the water vapor in the air.

• The mountains force the clouds to rise, and they cool as they rise.

• The mountains act as a barrier and prevent the clouds from traveling farther inland.