Guiding Questions: Climate Notes

Jones 4th

Dylan

Section 14.1 What is Climate?

1.Define climatology. The study of Earths
climate and factors that affect past,
present, and future climatic changes.
2.What factors does climate include in
addition to average weather conditions?
Includes annual variations of temp,
precipitation, wind, and other weather
variables.
3.Give two examples of how climatic data
can be used. Companies to decide where
to locate new facilities, and by people who
have medical conditions that require them
to live in certain environments.
4.Why must we exercise caution when using
normals to predict weather? Weather
conditions on any given day might differ
widely from normal and they only apply to
a specific place.
5.What factors cause climate? Latitude,
topography, closeness of lakes and
oceans, availability of moisture, global
wind patterns, ocean currents, air masses.
6.Why are coastal areas cooler in the
summer than inland areas? Water heats
up and cools down more slowly than land.

7.Describe the relationship between

temperature and altitude. Effected by
Earths tilt, effects how the suns rays hit
the Earth.
8.Figure 14-3 depicts what effect of
orographic lifting that we discussed last
Friday? (HINT: return to those notes!)
Moist air on the windward side and dry air
on the leeward side.
Section 14.2 Climate Classification
1.Name the system used to classify climates.
What factors does it consider? Koeppen
classification system, considers average
monthly values of temp and precipitation,
also distinct vegetation.
2.List the six main climate types. Tropical,
Mild, Dry, Continental, Polar, High elevation
3.What climate type do we live in? List its
characteristics. Humid subtropical which is
pressure systems usually found over
oceans. Warm muggy summers and dry
cold winters.
4.What is a microclimate? Give an example.
The climate of a small area, localized
climate that differs from main regional
climate. Ex. Top of a mountain being colder.
5.What is the heat island effect and where
does it occur? Climate is warmer than in

surrounding rural areas. Occurs because

large areas of asphalt radiate far more heat
than grasslands. Occurs wherever there is
a lot of asphalt or urbanization.