Weather and Climate

Weather refers to an area's ​ (a)   atmospheric conditions. Weather includes amount of sunshine, precipitation, cloud cover, ​ (b)   (amount of water vapor in the air), wind, floods, ice, and temperature. Weather can change in an instant and is often difficult to predict with precision.

​ (a)   refers to an area's long-term weather patterns. Climate usually refers to a set of ​ (b)   , including temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, and other atmospheric conditions occurring over a ​ (c)   period of time.

Weather is short-term, climate is long-term.

Climate can be influenced by many factors. A few effects are listed below.

Which one is not true?

as air rises to higher elevations, it expands due to decreasing air pressure, causing it to cool down even though "hot air" initially rose; therefore, higher elevations are generally colder despite the principle of hot air rising.

There are three climate zones: tropical, temperate, and polar. Climate zone depends on ​ (a)   and affects the average temperature and precipitation.

What are the three climate zones?

• Which zone extends from the Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees north latitude to the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees south latitude. It is characterized by warm temperatures and large amounts of rainfall.

• Which zone extends from 23.5 degrees to 66.5 degrees north and south latitude. It is characterized by warm summers, cool winters, and moderate rainfall.

• Which zone extends from 66.5 degrees north and south latitude to the north and south poles. It is characterized by a short, cool summer, and a long, extremely cold winter and low amounts of precipitation.