1. Climate and Climate Change
Science

2. Climate climate – the average weather pattern of a region.
This includes temperature, precipitation, winds, and clouds in an area.

3. Factors That Affect Temperature
The main factors that influence temperature are:
latitude
Altitude
distance from large bodies of water
ocean currents.

4. Earth has three main temperature zones:
Tropical zone – area near the equator
Polar zones – near the poles
Temperate zones – between the tropical and the polar zones

5. Distance From Large Bodies of Water:
Marine climates
Continental climates

6. Many marine climates are influenced by ocean currents, stream of water within the oceans that move in regular patterns.

7. The main factors that affect precipitation are prevailing winds and the presence of mountains.
Prevailing winds – the movement of large air masses
Mountains
Windward – the side of a mountain the oncoming wind hits
Leeward – downward side of the mountain in the rain shadow

8. Microclimates
A small area with specific climate conditions may have its own microclimate.

9. Seasons Most places on Earth outside the tropics have four seasons:
Winter
Spring
Summer
Fall

10. Tilted Axis
The seasons are caused by the tilt of Earth’s axis as Earth travels around the sun.

11. Climate Regions
Scientists classify climates according to two major factors:
temperature
precipitation

12. There are five main climate regions:
Tropical rainy
Tropical wet – rain forests where plenty of rain falls all year round
Tropical wet and dry – savannas are tropical grasslands
Dry
Arid – deserts get less than 25 cm of rain each year
Semiarid – steppe (also known as grassland or prairie)
Temperate marine
Marine west coast
Mediterranean
Humid subtropical – climates are wet and warm, but not as constantly hot as the tropics
Temperate continental
Humid continental
Subartic – climates lie north of the humid continental climates
Polar
Ice cap
Tundra – climate region stretches across northern Alaska, Canada, & Russia
Highlands

13. Climate Regions Fairbanks Yakutsk Winnepeg Moscow London Seattle
Portland
Istanbul
Beijing
Chicago
Rome
Tehran
Tokyo
Atlanta
Los Angeles
Miami
Cairo
Calcutta
Mexico City
Bangkok
Caracas
Addis Ababa
Lagos
Manaus
Nairobi
Jakarta
Lima
Lusaka
Rio de Janeiro
Santiago
Perth
Sydney
Buenos Aires
Cape Town

14. Temperate Continental
Climate Regions
Temperate Continental
Tropical Rainy
Climate Regions
Dry
include
Temperate Marine
Polar

15. In studying ancient climates, scientists follow an important principle: If plants or animals today need certain conditions to live, then similar plants and animals in the past also required those conditions.
During each ice age, huge sheets of ice called glaciers covered large parts of Earth’s surface.

16. Possible explanations for major climate changes include:
variations in the position of Earth relative to the sun
changes in the sun’s energy output
Sunspots – dark cooler regions on the surface of the sun – linked to climate change
the movement of continents

17. Climate Change
What is it like inside a car that has been sitting in the sun?
Why was it so hot inside the car?
List factors that make the inside of the car so hot.
How might car windows and Earth’s atmosphere be similar?

18. The Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming
Greenhouse gases – gases in the atmosphere that trap solar energy
Human activities that add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere may be warming Earth’s atmosphere.
Global warming – a gradual increase in the temperature of Earth’s atmosphere.

19. Ozone Depletion
Chemicals produced by humans have been damaging the ozone layer.
Chlorofluorocarbons – CFCs – the main the cause of ozone depletion are these groups of chlorine compounds.