Climate Guided Notes (Goes with Climate(1) ppt)
Sec 1
Climate
 ________________ is the pattern of weather that occurs in an area over many years. It determines the types of
____________ and _________________ that can survive, and it influences how people live.
 Climate is determined by ________________ the weather of a region over a long period of time, such as 30
years.
Latitude and Climate
 Latitude, a measure of _______________________________________________________________________,
affects climate.
 The ___________________ - the region between latitudes 23.5° and 23.5° - receive the most solar radiation
because the Sun shines almost directly over these areas.
 The ______________________ extend from 66.5° N and S to the poles. Solar radiation hits these zones at a low
angle, spreading _______________ over a large area.
 Polar regions are never warm.
 Between the tropics and the polar zones are the _______________________. Temperatures here are
__________________. Most of the _________________________ is in a temperate zone.
Other Factors – Large Bodies of Water
 It takes __________________ heat to increase the temperature of water than it takes to increase the
temperature of land.
 In addition, water must give up more heat than land does for it to cool.
 Large bodies of water can affect the climate of coastal areas by _____________________ or
____________________ heat.
Ocean Currents
 Ocean currents affect __________________________________.
 Warm currents begin near ___________________________ and flow toward ___________________________,
warming the land regions they pass.
 When the currents __________________ and flow back toward the equator, they cool the air and climates of
nearby land.
 Winds blowing from the sea are often ___________________ than those blowing from land. Therefore, some
coastal areas have ______________ climates than places father inland.
Mountains
 At the same latitude, the climate is ____________________ in the mountains than at sea level.
 When radiation from the Sun is absorbed by Earth’s surface, it ____________ the land.
 Heat from Earth then warms the atmosphere.
 Because Earth’s atmosphere gets ______________ at hgher altitudes, the air in the mountains has fewer
molecules to _________________ ________________.
Rain Shadows
 On the _____________________ side of a mountain range, air rises, cools, and drops its moisture.
 On the _____________________ side of a mountain range air descends, heats up, and dries the land.
Cities

______________, _________________ __________ and _______________________ heat up, in turn heating
the air.
 Air pollution traps this heat, creating what is known as the ________________________________________.
 Temperatures in a city can be 5°C (41°F) higher than in surrounding areas.
Questions:
1. The pattern of weather that occurs in an area over many years is called that area’s ___________________________.
2. The region between latitudes 23.5°N and 23.5°S is the _____________________________.
3. According to this figure, most of the US is on _______________________________.
Sec 2
Classifying Climates
 _________________________ - people who study climates – usually use a system developed in 1918 by
Wladimir Koppen to classify climates.
 Koppen observed that the types of ___________________ found in a region depended on the climate of the
area.
 He classified world climates by using the _____________ and ____________________ averages of
_____________________ and ______________________ of different regions.
 The climate classification system separates climates into six groups: ______________________,
____________________, ____________________, _____________________, _________________________,
and _________________________________________.
 All of them are classified by __________________________, except ________________________________.
They are classified by _____________________________________________________ that falls over an area.
Question: What are Humid Tropical Climates, Humid Mid-Latitude Climates and Dry Climates?
Fill in the blanks:
1. World Climates
A. Humid Tropical
1. wet tropics
2.
B. Humid Mid-Latitude
1.
2.
C. Dry
1.
2.
Climate Chart
Wet Tropical
Tropical Wet and Dry
Humid Mid-Latitude with Mild
Winters
Humid Mid-Latitude with Severe
Winters
Polar
Highland
Map Master Activity (p.594-5)
3 Places that have severe winters: ________________________, _____________________________ and
___________________________
4 places that have arid climates: ________________________, ___________________________,
____________________ and ____________________________
NC has a _______________________________________ climate.
Tropical wet and dry vacation place: _______________________________________
Worldwide Climate Zone Activity
What 2 factors do climatologists use to classify climates?
Sec 3
Earth’s Seasons
 _______________________ are short periods of climatic change caused by changes in the amount of solar
radiation an area receives.
 Because Earth is ___________________, different areas of Earth receive changing amounts of solar radiation
throughout the year.
Seasonal Changes
 ____________ do not have much seasonal change.
 The ____________________________________ or temperate zones have warm summers and cool winters.
Spring and fall are usually ______________.
High Latitudes
 The ____________________________________ near the poles have great differences in temperature and
_________________________________________________________.
 During ____________________ in the northern hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted toward the Sun.
 During _____________________ at the North Pole, the Sun doesn’t set for nearly _____________________.
 During the same time, the Sun ____________________________________ at the South Pole.
El Nino & La Nina
 ______________________ is a climatic event that involves the tropical _____________________________ and
the _____________________.
 During normal years, strong ______________________________________ that blow east to west along the
equator push warm surface water toward the western Pacific Ocean.
 During El Nino years, these winds _______________________ and sometimes ____________________.
 The change in winds allows warm, tropical water in the upper layers of the Pacific to flow back eastward to
________________________________________.
 Ocean temperatures increase by _______________ to __________________ off the coast of Peru.
 El Nino can affect weather patterns.
 It can alter the __________________ and ______________________ of one of the jet streams.
 During _______________________, the winds blowing across the Pacific are ____________________ than
normal, causing warm water to accumulate in the western Pacific.
 La Nina ay cause ____________________ in the southern United States and ___________________________ in
the northwestern US.
Climatic Change
 Some warm-weather fossils found in polar regions indicate that sometime in Earth’s past, worldwide climate
was much __________________ than at present.
 At other times, Earth’s climate has been much __________________ than it is today.

___________________ in many parts of the world show that several different times in the past 2 million years,
_____________________ covered large parts of Earth’s surface.
 There times are called ______________________________.
 During the past 2 million years, ice ages have alternated with warm periods called _______________________
_________________________.
 We are now in an ________________________________________________ that began about 11,500 years
ago.
What causes climatic change?
 __________________________ events, including meteorite collisions and large volcanic eruptions, can affect
climate over short periods of time, such as a year or several years.
 Changes in ________________ ___________________ which is the amount of energy given off by the Sun can
change climate.
 Changes in Earth’s _________________________________________________ affect climate over many
thousands of years and _________________________________________________________________ can
change climate over millions of years.
Atmospheric Solids and Liquids
 Small solid and liquid particles are always present in Earth’s ___________________________.
 Some ways that particles enter the atmosphere naturally include _____________________________________,
soot from fires, and ____________________________________________ of soil particles.
 __________________ add particles to the atmosphere through _______________________________________
and ____________________________________________________________________________.
 These small particles can affect climate.
 Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines, erupted 1991 – particle spread into the atmosphere and spread around the world,
blocking some of the Sun’s ___________________________ from reaching Earth.
Energy from the Sun
 If the output of radiation from the Sun varies, Earth’s _________________________ could change.
 Soome of the changes in the amount of energy given off by the Sun seem to be related to the presence of
_____________________________.
 Sunspots are dark spots on the surface of the Sun.
Earth Movements
 Earth’s axis currently is tilted _____________ from perpendicular to the plane of its orbit around the Sun.
 It has varied between ____________________ and __________________________.
 When this tilt is at its maximum, the change between summer and winter is probably _____________________.
 Precession also causes climate change.
 The shape of the Earth’s orbit changes.
Amount of Solar Energy
 These movements cause the amount of ____________ _______________________ reaching different parts of
Earth to vary over time.
 There changes might have caused glaciers to _______________ and ___________________ over the last few
million years.
Crustal Plate Movement
 The movement of continents and oceans affects the ________________ of ___________ on Earth, which in turn
affects _____________ and _________________________ patterns.
 Through time, these altered patterns can change _____________________.
Climatic Changes Today
 The _________________________ ________________ is a natural heating process that occurs when certain
gases in Earth’s atmosphere trap heat.
 Radiation form the Sun strikes Earth’s surface and causes it to __________________.


Some of this heat is then ___________________________ back toward space.
Some gases in the atmosphere, known as greenhouse gases, absorb a portion of this heat and then radiate it
back toward Earth.
 This keeps Earth _____________________ than it would be otherwise.
 There are many natural greenhouse gases I Earth’s atmosphere.
 ______________________, _____________________________________-, and _________________________
are some of the most important ones.
 Without these greenhouse gases, __________ would not be possible on Earth.
Global Warming
 Over the past 100 years, the average global surface temperature on Earth has increased by _______________.
This increase in temperature is known as _________________ _____________________.
 Researchers hypothesize that the increase in global temperatures may be related to the increase in atmospheric
____________ _______________.
 If Earth’s average temp continues to rise, many glaciers could ________________.
 When glaciers melt, the extra water causes __________ _________________ to rise.
 Low-lying coastal areas could experience increased flooding.
Human Activities – Burning Fossil Fuels
 When natural gas, oil, and coal are burned for energy, the carbon in these fossil fuels combines with
atmospheric oxygen to form ___________ ________________.
 Thhis increases the amount of carbon Dioxide in Earth’s ________________________.
Deforestation
 Destroying and cutting down trees, called _____________________________, also affects the amount of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere.
 As trees grow, they _______________ carbon dioxide from the __________________________.
 When trees are cut down, the carbon dioxide they could have removed from the atmosphere _______________
in the atmosphere.
The Carbon Cycle
 Carbon, primarily as _____________ _____________, is constantly recycled in nature among the
___________________________, ___________________________________ and
__________________________ that inhabit the land.
 When Earth’s climate changes, the amount of carbon dioxide that cycles among the land, ocean and atmosphere
can also change.
Questions:
1. Short periods of climatic change caused by changes in the amount of solar radiation an area receives are called
__________________________.
2. The greenhouse effect is __________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________.
3. Destroying and cutting down trees is called ____________________________________.