Geography: Factors that Affect Climate Flashcards
Understand Global and Local Factors better (17 cards)
What do Winds and Air Masses help with for the planet?
Winds and Air Masses help move energy around the planet.
What is the definition of Winds?
Winds are movements of air along the Earth’s surface
Why are winds so complex?
- From Earth spinning on its axis, winds move sideways, in the northern hemisphere air moves to the right more, but in the southern hemisphere, air moves to the left more.
- Land and water is not evenly distributed, land lies more in the northern hemisphere. Land absorbs heat more easily, so there is much more heat and rising air in the northern hemisphere
How do winds affect the weather?
- Cause air masses
- Carry moisture and heat from the ocean to the land
What is the definition of air masses?
Air masses are large volumes of air with similar temperature and moisture conditions.
What happens when air masses form over water VS when air masses form over the land?
When formed over warm bodies of water, picks up moisture and heat. Winds carry this which affects land areas and can cause more precipitation
When formed over land, it has no access to moisture and is very dry.
What is the definition of lattitude?
Lattitude is how far north or south a place is from the equator ( which has 0* lattitude)
Why do places with lower lattitude typically have warmer climates and vice versa.
Places with lower lattitude receive more concentrated and direct heat from the Sun
Places with higher lattitude receive less concentrated and spread out energy from the Sun
What is the definition of ocean currents?
Ocean currents are massive flows of water from the ocean.
How do ocean currents affect the weather?
Cold currents from the polar regions bring cold water towards the equator
Warm currents from tropic regions bring warm water to cooler regions
Help regulate these temperatures
What influences the movements of ocean currents?
Ocean Currents are influenced by winds, gravity, and the spinning of Earth on its axis
How does elevation affect local climate?
As elevation increases, temperatures become cooler.
Air density (how far or close apart air molecules are from each other) plays a role in how much heat air molecules can trap, which leads to warmer temperatures
At higher elevations, air molecules spread out, become less dense and become less able to trap heat
What is the definition of relief?
Relief is the difference in height between the lowest and highest points in an area
How does relief affect the weather?
Relief causes one side of a mountain to have more precipitation than the other.
The windward side (Side of a mountain that the wind impacts and meets first) receives more precipitation that the drier leeward side. It causes the moist air to rise and climb the mountain. When rising, the air cools and the moisture condenses and falls down on the Earth.
What is a body of water?
A body of water is any significant collection of water.
How do bodies of water help regulate the land’s temperature?
Bodies of water take longer to heat up and cool down compared to land. So, their temperature is less extreme. When the land is cold (in the winter), the warmer bodies of water warm the air above it, which bring the heat onto the nearby land.
Similarly, when the land is warmer (in the summer), the bodies of water cool the air above it which blows onto the nearby lands.
How do bodies of water provide moisture to nearby land?
Bodies of water provide moisture to nearby land by evaporating. When the surface of these bodies of water evaporate, the air above picks up the moisture and carry it to the land’s. This moisture falls onto the land by snow or by rain.
