Climate of the Earth

* How does the Sun affect the earth?

* Climate – weather patterns that are typically experienced over a long period of time * Weather – condition of the atmosphere in one place during a short period of time * The sun’s heat and light reach the earth as warmth and sunlight – but they do not reach all parts of the earth equally

* Earth is tilted at an angle of 23 ½° * Because of the tilt not all places receive the same amount of direct sunlight * Affects temperature * And day & night of each hemisphere

* Trip around the sun * Seasons! * Reversed North and South * Vernal (Latin for Bloom) Equinox (equal night) * The sun’s rays fall directly on the Equator * Marks the beginning of Spring (March 21 st ) * Autumnal Equinox

* Tropic of Cancer * Tropic of Capricorn * When direct rays reach the Tropic of Cancer (June 21 st ) we have the longest day of sunlight * Solstice – beginning of summer * When they hit the Tropic of Capricorn * Winter Solstice (shortest day)

* For six months of the year one pole is tilted toward the sun and receives continuous sunlight * North Pole – the sun never sets from about March 20 to September 23 * The other pole is tilted away from the sun and receives little to no sunlight * Remember they are complete opposites

* Low Latitudes (Tropics) * Equator (war to hot climates) * High Latitudes * Polar areas (Midnight Sun) * Mid-Latitudes * Other two contribute to having temperature climate (variation in hot and cold) * Elevation and Climate * Colder as you go up * Atmosphere thins

* Prevailing winds – global winds which blow in fairly constant patterns * Coriolis Effect – causes prevailing winds to blow diagonally rather than in set up or down pattern * Horse Latitudes * Calm wind section near the tropics of C’s * Doldrums – windless band at the equator

* Currents – streams of water that move in patterns * Just like wind affected by the earth’s rotation, changes in air pressure and differences in water temperature

* El Nino * A climatic phenomenon * Periodic change in the pattern of ocean currents and water temperatures in the mid- Pacific region * Causes * Increase in precipitation * Risk of floods * Hawaii experiences doldrums * Droughts in Southeast Asia

* Rain Shadow Effect

* Climate Regions * Tropical * Dry * Mid-Latitude * High-Latitude * Highlands * Create a circle map of each climate region * List at least 10 characteristics of each in your notebook * Climates affect natural vegetation and population