1. CLIMATE

2. What is Climate
Climate: the average, year-after-year conditions of temperature, precipitation, winds, and clouds in an area
What is Microclimate?
Microclimate: climate conditions within a small area that differ from those in the surrounding area
This is why is it cooler in a patch of trees than in an open field

3. Factors that Affect Temperature
The main factors that influence temperature are latitude, altitude, distance from large bodies of water, and ocean currents.
Climate zones categorized by Latitude
Tropical zone: Near the equator, extends 23.5⁰ N and S of the equator
Polar zone: ⁰ to 90 ⁰N and S latitudes
Temperate zone: located between tropical and polar zones

4. How can bodies of water affect temperature?
Marine climates: mild winters & cool summers (winds off the ocean prevent temperature extremes) Where in the United States does this happen? Answer: West Coast areas Continental climates: cold winters & hot summers Answer: Mid-Central U.S.

5. The Seasons
The seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis as Earth Travels around the sun
The earth is tilted through the poles at an angle of 23.5 ⁰
The axis never changes – the location of the Earth relative to the sun does; due to the rotation of the Earth
Web code: cfp-5012

6. Climate Regions The six main climate regions are: Tropical Rainy Dry
Temperate Marine
Temperate Continental
Polar
Highlands

7. Tropical Rainy Tropical wet: always hot and humid with heavy rainfall
Afternoon thunderstorms are common here
Example: Tropical Rain Forests
Tropical wet-and-dry: always hot, alternating wet and dry seasons; heavy rainfall in wet season
Example: savannas (tropical grasslands)

8. Temperate Marine Climate
Dry Climate
Arid – desert with little precipitation
Semiarid – dry, but receives about 25 to 50 cm of precipitation per year
Temperate Marine Climate
Marine West Coast – mild winters and cool summers and rainy winters
Humid Subtropical – hot summers, cool winters
Mediterranean – warm dry summers, rainy winters

9. Temperate Continental
Humid Continental – hot, humid summers and cold winters with moderate precipitation year round
Subartic – short, cool summers and long cold winters; light precipitation, mainly in the summer
Polar
Tundra – always cold with a short, cool summer
Ice Cap – always cold, average temp at or below freezing

10. Causes of Climate Change
Earth’s position relative to the sun
Sun’s energy output (solar energy)
Volcanic eruptions
Continental drift – the movement of the continents
Possible Causes of Short Term
Climate Change (pages )
El Nino – warm surface water from the western Pacific moves east toward the coast of South America
La Nina – surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean are colder than normal
Global Warming – gradual increase in the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere