2.3 Climate and What Influences it Geography

2.3 Climate and What Influences it Vocabulary Weather Temperature Precipitation Climate Gulf Stream Peru Current

2.3 Climate and What Influences it Journal: Think of as many words as you can to describe weather conditions. Make a list. Now choose the words that best describes today’s weather. Now describe the different seasons. Questions to Explore

2.3 Climate and What Influences it Weather or Climate? –Weather—the day-to-day changes in the air. –Temperature—how hot or cold the air feels –Precipitation—water that falls to the ground as rain, snow, sleet, or hail. –Climate is the average weather over many years. Be prepared to define all of the above on the chapter 2 test.

2.3 Climate and What Influences it Latitude, Landforms and Climate –Geographers know climates are different in the low, middle, and high latitudes, because latitude affects temperature. Why? –Major landforms such as mountains also affect climates in neighboring areas. –Wind and water also play a role.

2.3 Climate and What Influences it Wind and Water –Without wind and water the Earth would overheat. The Earth’s rotations creates the winds Because of it air moves in an east/west direction 1.Hot air rises and circulates toward regions where the air is not as hot 2.Cold air sinks and moves toward regions where the air is warmer. –Hot, moist air from the equator rises in the atmosphere, then moves toward the North Pole or the South Pole.

2.3 Climate and What Influences it Cold, dry air from the poles moves toward the Equator. This movement helps keep the Earth from overheating. Ocean Currents: Hot and cold –The Earth’s rotation also creates ocean currents, which are like fast-moving rivers in the oceans. –Like winds, ocean currents travel great distances. Warm water from near the Equator moves north and south.

2.3 Climate and What Influences it –In the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf Stream, a warm current, travels north and east from the tropics. –The Gulf Stream merges with the North Atlantic Current to carry warm water all the way to the British Isles. –Cold water from the poles flows toward the Equator. –The Peru Current moves north from Antarctica, along the coast of South America, and on to the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. These islands sit on the Equator, but the current is cold enough for penguins to live there.

2.3 Climate and What Influences it The Ocean’s Cooling and Warming Effects –It is cooler by the water because water takes longer to heat or cool than land. –In summer a place near the ocean of a lake will be cooler than an area farther away. –In the winter, it will be warmer. Raging Storms –Wind and water can make climates milder, but they also can create storms.

2.3 Climate and What Influences it Hurricanes are wind and rain storms that form over the tropics in the Atlantic Ocean. –The whirling winds at the center of a hurricane travel over 73 miles per hour. –Hurricanes produce huge waves called storm surges, which flood over shorelines and can destroy homes and towns. –Typhoons are similar storms that take place in the Pacific Ocean

2.3 Climate and What Influences it –Hurricanes and Typhoons affect large areas. –One single hurricane can threaten islands in the Caribbean Sea, the east coast of Mexico, and the southern coat of the United States. Tornadoes are swirling funnels of wind that can reach 200 miles per hour. The winds and the vacuum they create in their centers can wreck almost everything in their path.

2.3 Climate and What Influences it Tornadoes only average about one half mile in diameter—they affect a more limited area than hurricanes. Some storms are less severe. In winter, blizzards dump huge amounts of snow on parts of North America. Severe rainstorms and thunderstorms strike the continent most often in spring and summer

2.3 Climate and What Influences it Make sure that you have completed: –Vocabulary –Journal –Questions to Explore –2.3 Review Questions –Homework: Climate and What Influences It worksheet. –United Streaming: The Raging Earth

2.3 Climate and What Influences it