1. CLIMATE AND VEGETATION Section 3 pg.34 Geography 7th Grade

2. The Difference Between Weather and Climate Weather is the day-to-day changes in the air. It is measured by temperature and precipitation. – Temperature is how hot or cold the air feels. – Precipitation is water that falls to the ground as rain, sleet, hail, or snow. Climate is the average weather of a place over many years. The Earth has many climate regions. – Climate varies among different latitudes and is also greatly affected by wind, water, and landforms. So the difference between them is that weather is what it is like every day, while climate is the average weather of a place over many years.

3. The Impact of Wind and Water Without wind and water, the Earth would overheat. Together, wind and water moderate the effect of the sun’s heat. The Earth’s rotation also creates ocean currents, which are like rivers in the oceans. Oceans also moderate the climate of nearby land. When the land has warmed during the summer, the nearby ocean remains cooler. Air blowing over the ocean becomes cool and then cools the land. In the winter, the opposite occurs.

5. Raging Storms Wind and water can make a climate milder, but they also create storms. Hurricanes are storms that form over the ocean in the tropics. Hurricantes rotate in a counter- clockwise direction around an “eye”. They have winds of at least 74 miles per hour and usually involve heavy rainfall. Tornadoes are just as dangerous, but they affect smaller areas. Their wind can range from 40 miles per hour to over 300 miles.

7. Climate and Vegetation Every climate region has its own characteristic, such as amount of rain and sunlight, temperature, and nutrients. Geographers discuss 5 types of climates: 1.-Tropical: climate is hot, wet, and sunny /vegetation is tropical rainforest 2.-Dry: climate is dry, hot with little rain and sandy/vegetation is sparse 3.-Moderate: climate has moderate rainfall and varied vegetation 4.-Continental: summer temperatures are moderate to hot; winters are cold/vegetation includes grasslands and forests. 5.-Polar: cold all year round/vegetation includes low shrubs, mosses, and lichens. No trees and few flowering plants.