Factors that Affect Climate for Grade 9.ppt

Climate

1. Factors that Affect Climate

2. What is climate?
•Climateis the averageweather conditions
over a long period of time
–Includes average temperatures and
precipitation, wind patterns, humidity,
air pressure
•Weatheris what it is NOW, climate is what
it SHOULD BE.

3. How is this different from
“weather”?
•Weather changes day to day.
•Weather can fall inside normal ranges or
outside of what is expected from the
climate-“above or below average”
•Climate is the benchmark; what we expect

4. NJ Averages
•Average April Precip: 4.60 in.
•4/30/14 Precip: 3.24 in.
•Average May High Temp: 71°F
•Today’s high: 67°F

5. Climate Factors
Temperature Factors (LADBWOC!)
•Latitude
•Altitude
•Distance to a Body of Water
•Ocean Currents
Precipitation Factors (TP)
•Topography
•Prevailing Winds

6. How does Latitudeaffect
climate? (the angular distance N or S of the
equator)
•Latitude is the most
significant factor for
determining climate
•Warmer at the
equator
•Colder at the poles –
in general
•Seasons are
REVERSED between
N. and S. Hemisphere

7. How does Altitudeaffect
climate?
•As you go up in
altitude, you go down
in temperature and
sometimes
precipitation

8. How does the Distance from large
bodies of wateraffect climate?
•Large bodies of water
regulate temperature due
to water’s properties.
•The ocean thermostat-
keeps it warmer in
winter and cooler in the
summer
–less fluctuation
•Inland climate have more
extreme temperature
fluctuations throughout
the year

9. How do nearby Ocean Currents affect the
climate?
•Warm and cold ocean currents bring warm moist air near
to coastal areas.
•Great Britain is an example –latitude position puts it in
the cold and dry climate zone
•However it is moist and warmer due to the Gulf Stream,
a warm current.

10. How do the Prevailing winds
affect climate?Prevailing
windsarewindsthat blow predominantly from a single
general direction over a particular point on the Earth's
surface. •Global winds are
generated by the
rotation of the earth
and move air around
the globe.
•Prevailing winds (like
the Trade Winds)
regulate climate
•Winds bring storms,
air masses of different
temps.

11. How does Topography affect
the climate?
•The lay of the ground
plays an important
role in regulating
climate
•Ex. The windward
side of a coastal
mountain range is
wetter than the
leeward side –rain
shadow effect

12. www.olympicrainshadow.com

13. Other Factors-Plate Tectonics
•Tectonic plates have shifted
across Earth’s surface for
billions of years
•Greenland and Antarctica
usedto be tropical
•S. Africa had glaciers
•NJ had volcanoes
•Most of the Western U.S.
was underwater

14. Other Factors-Volcanic Eruptions
•Volcanoes can warm AND cool the planet
•Volcanoes emit CO
2which is a
greenhouse gas global warming
•But volcanoes also emit SO
2and aerosols
(tiny solid particles) that REFLECT
sunlightback into space
–Less radiation reaches Earth COOLING

15. % Change in Solar Radiation
www.esrl.noaa.gov

16. Ice Ages
•Earth naturally fluctuatesbetween ice
ages and interglacial periods
•ICE AGE-an era of cooler than normal
global temperatures
•INTERGLACIAL PERIOD-era of warmer
than normal temps.
•Scientists claim the next ice age is 50,000
years away

17. Other Factors-Astronomy
•Milankovitch Cycles: Flux in Earth’s orbit
and Earth’s axis over long time periods

18. What We Know-Facts
•Earth’s climate HAS changed many times
over time naturally
•Our climate IS changing right NOW, but
it’s different than ever documented before
–WHY????
•Humans adding GHGs has warmedthe
planet in the past 200 yrs This is FACT

19. Looking at Climatograms
•Your group will get “pairs”of cities to compare
climates
•Write down a list of observations from each graph
for each city: highest temp, highest precip.,
trends, patterns, etc.
•Determine which climate factor is affecting the
climates of these cities and provide at least 1
piece of factual evidence to support your claim.
•You can use Google maps to help locate

20. Practice-NYC vs. Sydney
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Precipitation (mm)
Temperature (deg. C)
Months
New York, NY
Precip
Temp

21. NYC Climate Facts
•Warmest months: June, July, August
•Consistently around 100 mm precip/month
•Coldest months: Dec, Jan, Feb.
•Coastal City (Atlantic Ocean)
•N. Hemisphere: 40.7°N
•Elevation: sea level (0)

22. Practice-NYC vs. Sydney
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
5
10
15
20
25
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Precipitation (mm)
Temperature (deg. C)
Months
Sydney, Australia
Precip (mm)
Temp (C)

23. Sydney Climate Facts:
•Warmest months: Dec., Jan, Feb
•Coldest months: May, June, July, Aug
•Precipitation averages to ~100 mm/month
•Coastal city
•Southern Hemisphere: 34°S
•Elevation: sea level

24. Which factor?
•Latitude?
•Altitude?
•Distance to Body of Water?
•Ocean Currents?
•Topography?
•Prevailing Winds?

25. City Pairs
•Chico, CA vs. Reno, NV
•Norfolk, VA vs. San Francisco, CA
•Estes Park, CO vs. Lincoln, NE
•Boston, MA vs. Minneapolis, MN