1. Video: Climate Quiz – Section 11.2
Review
Video: Climate
Quiz – Section 11.2
(c) McGraw Hill Ryerson 2007

2. Water has a high heat capacity
11.3 Oceans and Climate
Water has a high heat capacity
Water heats up and cools down slowly, and can absorb large amounts of thermal energy.
 Oceans can store and transport huge amounts of energy
Oceans influence weather
through the water cycle
Eg) Mositure and ppt
Video Ocean and Climate Change
VideoTemperature vs. Heat
See page 428
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3. Weather: The condition of the atmosphere at a specific time
Climate = The average weather tracked over many years
Climates vary greatly around the world
Climate measures temperature + precipitation > 30 years
Climate is affected by movement of energy through the oceans
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4. How Oceans Affect Weather
Through convection, heat energy transfers from the ocean’s surface to the air, and this warm air rises
 The surface of the ocean is heated by the sun
The warm “bubble” of air is called a thermal
The thermal rises until it loses its heat, and then drops back down again. This process of heat transfer is called convection.
See page 430
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5. El Niño and La Niña
El Niño is the warming ocean effect that occurs some years in December off the Pacific coast of Ecuador.
El Niño can change the weather around the world, including warmer and wetter in BC, and droughts in Africa and Australia.
Changing ocean temperatures also cause sea life to change behaviours.
La Niña is a cooling of similar waters, and produces
almost the opposite effects of El Niño.
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6. The Moderating Effect of Oceans on Climate
Oceans can make cold, northern locations warmer
Locations like BC, Norway and England benefit
Because of water’s high heat capacity, heat energy can be carried from south to north by currents like the Gulf Stream (in England and Norway) or the Pacific Drift (in BC).
As the warm water evaporates, it carries energy over the mainland of the province.
Mountains block the warmth from reaching into the interior.
Edmonton and Manchester, England are the same latitude
Edmonton, Alberta
January average temperature = 7 C
Manchester, England
January average temperature = +6 C
See pages
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7. The Moderating Effect of Oceans on Climate (continued)
For these reasons, we can see considerable differences between locations at the same approximate latitude (distance from the equator) in BC
See pages
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8. Draw Figure 11.28 –The Rain Shadow for the Coast of BC – Page 432
Explain the effect of the Coastal Mountain Ranges.
Page 435 # 1-6, 10
Chapter 11 Test/Quiz coming up - Wednesday
(c) McGraw Hill Ryerson 2007