Weather and Climate

Weather Short period of time. Description of weather usually includes temperature, precipitation, and wind. Weather is always changing.

Climate Long period of time. Depends on elevation, absolute location, and location in relation to bodies of water and other landforms. Ultimate source of Earth’s climates is the sun.

Rotation and Revolution Rotation-movement of Earth on its axis. One rotation takes 24 hours. Revolution- Earth revolves around the sun in a circular path. One revolution takes 365 ¼ days. We add one day every four years to account for the ¼ day.

Tropics Earth tilts 23 ½ degrees causing different parts of the Earth to get different amounts of sunlight. Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn are found at 23 ½ degrees latitude. Tropics get the most direct sunlight. Sunlight becomes less and less direct closer to the North and South poles you get.

Changes in Season Marked by summer and winter solstice-longest and shortest days of the year. Equinox-when sun is directly over the equator-day and night are equal in length. March 20th and September 22nd equinoxes occur.

3 Climate Zones Tropic Zones-hot year round. Temperate Zones-generally cooler than the tropics and have wide range of temperatures. Polar Zones-cool or bitterly cold year round.