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Factors Affecting Climate

Factors Affecting Climate. Weather or Climate?. Toronto has daily weather Weather is the day-to-day combination of precipitation (rain and snow), temperature, humidity, clouds and wind Weather changes every day Climate is the long-term patterns in weather for a specific location.

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Factors Affecting Climate

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  1. Factors Affecting Climate

  2. Weather or Climate? • Toronto has daily weather • Weather is the day-to-day combination of precipitation (rain and snow), temperature, humidity, clouds and wind • Weather changes every day • Climate is the long-term patterns in weather for a specific location

  3. Six Factors Affecting Climate L Latitude O  Ocean currents W Winds & Air Masses E  Elevation R Relief (Mountains) Near Water

  4. L - Latitude Average temperature gets colder the further you travel from the equator Why? The energy from sun is stronger at the equator because it strikes the surface of the earth more directly than at the poles COLDER WARMER WARMER COLDER

  5. O – Ocean Currents The temperature of water impacts the temperature of the surrounding air • Warm water (from the equator) warms the air • Cold water (from the north and south poles) cools the air

  6. Bay of Fundy (Atlantic Coast of Canada) where warm and cold ocean currents meet

  7. W – Winds & Air Masses • Air masses that form over the ocean carry lots of moisture (leads to precipitation) • Air masses that form over land have very little moisture (can lead to deserts) • Winds move weather in predictable directions (west to east in Canada)

  8. E - Elevation As you climb higher above sea level, temperature goes down • Temperature drops 1°C for every 100m of elevation • Air becomes less dense, cannot hold onto heat

  9. Tree Line on a mountain

  10. R – Relief (Mountains) • Mountains block clouds • Wind pushes clouds up the side of the mountain • Air cools, moisture turns into clouds and eventually falls as rain • Air travels down the far side of the mountain, but has no moisture; very dry • RAIN SHADOW • One side of a mountain gets lots of rain, the other side gets very little

  11. The Rain Shadow Moist air cools, condenses and falls as precipitation Moist side Dry side Dry air falls down the back of the mountain, creates RAIN SHADOW (very dry area) Moist air forced to rise up the side of the mountain

  12. Near Water • Land close to water (great lakes or oceans) has a maritime climate • Lots of precipitation • Temperature range is small • Land far from water has a continental climate • Not very much precipitation • Large temperature range Water absorbs heat in the summer (keeps land cool) and gives off heat in the winter (keeps land warm)

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