Chapter 3 Physical Geography: Climate and Vegetation
Overview/ generalization about Chapter 3…
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is…
Climate is…
2. Daily weather is the result of many factors, including…
solar energy, cloud cover,
landforms, bodies of water
and air movement
Types of precipitation
Orographic Orographic rain occurs when Air moves from low altitude to higher altitude creating humidity, clouds and eventually precipitation. (mountainous areas)
Orographic Cloud
Convection Rising heated water vapor that forms clouds and causes heated air to rise even higher.
RAIN SHADOW A rain shadow is a dry area on the leeward side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the rain from the windward side of the mountain. Creates a “shadow” of dryness.
RAIN SHADOW LEEWARD WINDWARD
El Niño El Niño is an abnormal warming of surface ocean waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Causes increased rain in the Southern United States and Peru as well as droughts in western Pacific countries like Indonesia
El Niño
Abnormal Cooling of the Pacific La Niña Abnormal Cooling of the Pacific During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the Southeast Asia and cooler than normal in the Northwest United States Causes summer droughts in the southern United States
La Niña Normal
Types of extreme weather include… hurricanes
tornadoes
Tornado Alley
blizzards
droughts
floods
Section 2: Climate 1. Four major factors influence the climate of a region. They are…
wind and ocean currents
latitude
altitude/ elevation
and topography
2. Climates change…
3. Some climate changes are… natural while others result from human activities