Download Climate - Brandywine School District

Climate
What is climate? What factors influence climate?
Differences between
Weather and Climate
 Weather is immediate atmospheric conditions that
change daily
 Climate is long term weather conditions for a
particular location and is more stable and predictable
than weather
 Climate is based on the temperature and precipitation
records over an extended period of time
Factors that affect Temperature:
Latitude
 As you move away from
the equator, temp
decreases.
 As latitude increases, the
angle of the sun’s rays
decrease, causing less
heating
Factors that Affect Temperature:
Altitude
 As altitude increases,
temp decreases. The
higher you are, the
colder it is.
Factors that Affect Temperature:
Distance from large bodies of water
(Oceans)
 Keep land temperatures
moderate – not too high
or too low when they are
close to Oceans
 Areas in the middle of
continents have colder
winters and hotter sum.
Eureka, CA
Grand Junction, CO
Kansas City, MO
Wilmington, DE
Factors that Affect Temperature:
Ocean Currents
Source: NOAA
 Warm ocean currents
border the East coast of
continents and make the
climate warm. Cold
currents border the West
and make it cold
Excellent Demo on Ocean Currents
Source: WW2010 University of Illinois
Factors that Affect Precipitation:
Prevailing (Global Winds)
 Warm moist air (from
oceans) bring rain
 Cooler, dry air (from
Land) doesn’t. Where
are the Global winds
are coming from?
H
L
Prevailing
Westerlies
Horse
Latitudes
Doldrums
Trade
Winds
H
L
Source: NOAA
Source: WW2010 University of Illinois
Factors that Affect Precipitation:
Mountain Ranges
 Rains on the Windward
side (faces winds) of
mountains.
 Dry (deserts) on the
Leeward (faces away)
Leeward
Windward