Name: ___________________________________________________________ Date: 12/9/15 Period: ______ NOTES
Notes: Atmosphere Chapter 4
Vocabulary:
Term
Definition
Example
Climate
Latitude
Marine Climate
Continental Climate
Ocean Current
Season
Climate Zone
Microclimate
Urban Heat Island
Rain Shadow
Ice Age
El Nino
Fill in the Blank. Use pages A117-129 to fill in the information below.
4.1: Climate is a long-term weather pattern.
 Geography affects climate.
o Weather conditions may not last very long, whereas the climate of an area changes over
much longer periods of time.
o Meteorologists usually focus on patterns of temperature and precipitation when they classify
climates.
 4 key geographical features affect temperature and precipitation: latitude, altitude,
distance from large bodies of water, and ocean currents.
o Latitude
 The sun heats Earth’s curved surface unevenly. Sunlight strikes Earth’s surface
directly near the equator, but near the poles it strikes the surface at a lower angle,
so it is more spread out.
 Because of uneven heating, average annual temperatures generally decrease as you
move closer to the poles.
o Altitude
 The troposphere is mainly warmed from below by Earth’s surface. As convection lifts
the warmed air to higher altitudes, the air expands and cools.
 The temperature at the peak of a tall mountain is low regardless of the mountain’s
latitude.
o Large Bodies of Water
 Marine climates: occur near the ocean, usually along the west coasts of continents.
Summers and Winters are mild. They receive steady precipitation because winds
blowing off the ocean bring moisture to the atmosphere.
Continental climates: occur in the interior of continents. Most have large differences
between daytime and nighttime temperatures because they lack the influence of
nearby oceans.
o Ocean Currents
 Influence climates by transferring energy from one part of an ocean to another.
Warm-water currents carry warmth from the tropics to higher latitudes, where they
help keep coastal regions warm. C
 The Gulf Stream is a major warm-water current.
 Seasonal changes are part of climate.
o Seasons occur because the amounts of energy that the Northern and Southern Hemisphere
receive from the sun change over the course of the year.
o How can two locations have the same average temperature, but have different temperatures
in summer and winter?
o The seasonal pattern of precipitation can determine the types of plants that grow in a region
and the length of the growing season.
4.2: Earth has a variety of climates.
 The most widely used system groups climates by temperature and precipitation.
 The 6 major climate zones of this classification system are humid tropical, dry, moist mid-latitude
with mild winters, moist mid-latitude with severe winters, polar, and highland.
 Climate zones are further divided into subclimates.
o Scientists choose one characteristic that makes it different from other subclimates within
the same climate zone.
 List some features that influence local climates.
 Cities are usually warmer than surrounding rural areas.
 Mountains can affect precipitation because:
o Air rises as it flows over a mountain.
o As the air rises and cools, it condenses into clouds. Areas near the side of a mountain that
faces the oncoming wind may get heavy precipitation.
o After passing over the mountain, the air is much drier because it lost moisture through
condensation and precipitation, so you can get a dry area on the downwind side of a
mountain.
