Guided Notes for Climate

1. Guided Notes for Climate Chapter 14, Section 1

2. Climatology is the study of Earth’s climate and the factors that affect past, present, and future climatic changes.

3. 2. Climate describes the long-term weather patterns of an area, including annual variations of temperature, precipitation, wind and other weather variables.

4. 3. Normals, or standard values, for a location include weather data such as high and low temperatures, amounts of rainfall, wind speed and direction, humidity, and air pressure.

5. 4. Normals are the average weather conditions over a long period of time.

6. 5. The amount of solar radiation received by any one place varies because Earth is tilted on its axis, and this affects how the Sun’s rays strike Earth’s surface.

7. 6. The tropics, between 23.5˚ north and south of the equator, receives the most solar radiation because the Sun’s rays strike that area from almost directly overhead.

8. 7. The temperate zones lie between 23.5 degrees and 66.5 degrees north and south of the equator. Temperatures in these regions are moderate.

9. 8. Polar zones are located from 66.5 degrees north and south of the equator to the poles, where solar radiation strikes at a low angle.

10. 9. Large bodies of water affect the climates of coastal areas because water heats up and cools down more slowly than land. Many coastal regions are warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than inland areas.

11. 10. Mountain climates are usually cooler than those at sea level.

12. 11. The climate on the windward side of a mountain is usually wet and cool. On the leeward side, the air is dry, and it warms as it descends. Deserts are common on leeward sides of mountains.