GLOBAL TEMPERATURE PATTERNS
Name________________
The amount of incoming solar energy is considered to be a constant for the Earth as a whole. Due to
different sun angles, both from place to place and season to season, the insolation does vary. Temperature also
varies from place to place and season to season, and as we discovered in the Urban Heat Island exercise,
temperature can vary over short distances due to the different albedos of surface materials. Temperature
differences affect other weather characteristics such as air pressure and circulation. In this exercise, we will
look at the temperature patterns around the world to determine the relationship between temperature and
latitude, altitude, and the position of land and water bodies. One way that we can describe these relationships is
if they are direct (as latitude goes up, temperature range goes up) or inverse (opposite trends). Temperature data
are from the World Climate Web Site (www.worldclimate.com) and from the Climate Prediction Center,
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Section 1: Temperature Patterns and Latitude
In an earlier exercise, you calculated the sun angle for many locations at different times of the year.
Latitude was one of the variables that you used in the sun angle equation. The sun angle varied with latitude
and with the subsolar point at a particular time of the year.
Location
Latitude
Mean Temp (C)
Jan
July Annual
Fairbanks, AK
64 N
-14.1 21.3
3.3
Belgrade,
Yugoslavia
44 N
3.5
27.3
16.3
Khartoum, Sudan
15 N
22.7
31.4
29.2
Annual Range
1. What is the general relationship between latitude and the mean January temperatures?
What is the general relationship between latitude and the mean July temperatures?
What is the general relationship between latitude and the mean annual temperatures?
2. Calculate the annual temperature range for each location in the space provided in the data table. The
temperature range is the difference between the mean monthly high and the mean monthly low. What is the
general relationship between latitude and the mean annual temperature range?
Section 2: Temperature Patterns and Altitude
The lower portion of Earth’s atmosphere, the troposphere, is reheated by longwave radiation from the
Earth. As incoming shortwave solar radiation strikes the surface, it warms the surface and that energy is
converted to longwave radiation and given off from the surface to the troposphere. Temperatures in the
troposphere decrease at an average rate of 6.4 degrees Celsius for every increase of 1000 meters. This is called
the normal lapse rate.
Location
Elevation
(meters)
Mean Temps (C)
Jan
July
Baltimore, MD
17
0
24.6
12.8
Springfield, IL
179
-4.3
24.5
11.3
Lincoln, NE
362
-5.9
25.6
10.4
Grand Lake, CO
2657
-8.9
10.7
2.1
Mean Annual Temp
1. What are the general relationships between elevation and the mean January temperature; the mean July
temperature; and the mean annual temperature?
2. Look at a globe or atlas. Why is it not possible to explain these temperature variations as a function of
latitude?
3. While returning from a backpacking trip in Colorado in July 2013 we went up and over the continental
divide, this temperature and elevation data was observed:
Continental Divide at 11,800 ft
6,922 ft
Since this data is for F temperatures and feet, use the normal lapse rate of decrease of 3.5 F for every increase in
1000 ft to estimate the temperature on the Continental Divide.
Section 3: Temperature Patterns Based on Land and Water Bodies
Use a globe or atlas as you examine the temperature data.
Location
Latitude
Elevation
(meters)
Mean Temp (C)
Jan
July Annual
Winnipeg,
Manitoba
50 N
239
-18.6 19.6
2
Vancouver,
British Columbia
49 N
3
2.8
9.8
17.3
1. How does being near a water body affect temperature patterns in the winter? Explain your answer using
specific heat.
2. How does being near a water body affect temperature patterns in the summer? Explain your answer using
latent heat of evaporation.
3. Why can’t the difference in elevation between these two locations explain the observed
temperature differences?
Section 4: Isotherms
Average temperatures (Fahrenheit) for Feb 3-9, 2002 are plotted on the map of the contiguous 48 states
of the United States on the next page. Draw isotherms at 10-degree intervals from 70 degrees to 0 degrees.
You may want to look at a globe or atlas as you answer these questions
1. Where do the coldest temperatures occur during this week? Explain your answer.
2. North Dakota, Michigan, and New York are at approximately the same latitude. Why is
North Dakota colder than either Michigan or New York?
Section 5: Temperature Curves
The mean monthly temperatures collected over a long time period can be plotted to illustrate
temperature curves. On the next graph, four temperature curves are shown.
The Equatorial curve is represented by Singapore, Singapore, 1 N, elevation 18 meters. Equatorial
curves usually have a small annual temperature range since the sun angles at the lower latitudes are uniformly
high during the year.
The Monsoonal curve is represented by Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 12.35 N, elevation 316 meters.
They occur between 12 and 20 degrees of latitude in areas where the sun passes directly overhead twice a year,
so the curve is bimodal.
The Marine (maritme) curve is represented by Juneau, Alaska, USA, 58.36 N, elevation 3 meters.
These areas are commonly in the midlatitudes. Since water in the adjacent ocean stores heat and then transfers
that heat to the land by advection, these areas are warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than would be
expected based on their latitude alone.
The Continental curve is represented by Omsk, Russia, 55 N, 123 meters elevation. They have larger
annual temperature ranges than the marine curves.
Mystery location A
Average monthly temperature (Celsius)
J
F
M
A
M
J
-0.3 0.1
0.8
2.9
6.5
9.3
J
11.1
A
10.6
S
7.9
O
4.5
N
1.7
D
0.2
Mystery location B
Average monthly temperature (Celsius)
J
F
M
A
M
J
28.5 27.7 24.8 20
15.5 12.3
J
11.5
A
14.3
S
18.3
O
22.7
N
25.7
D
27.7
Mystery location C
Average monthly temperature (Celsius)
J
F
M
A
M
J
16.7 16.7 15.4 13
10.5 8.5
J
7.8
A
8.9
S
10.6
O
12.3
N
13.9
D
15.4
1. Use the next page of graph paper to plot the temperature data for three mystery locations. Use a different
symbol or color for each location. Connect the data points for each location with a smooth line. Label the
axes and give your graph a title.
2. Is mystery location A in the northern or the southern hemisphere?
Explain your answer.
3. Is mystery location B in the northern or the southern hemisphere?
Explain your answer.
4. For mystery location A, what is the annual range of temperature in degrees C? in degrees F?
What type of temperature curve does the data from this location represent?
5. Using a globe or atlas, what island in the middle of the North Atlantic do you think mystery location A is
on?
6. For mystery location B, what is the annual range of temperature in degrees C? in degrees F?
What type of temperature curve does the data from this location represent?
7. For mystery location C, what is the annual range of temperature in degrees C? in degrees F?
What type of temperature curve does the data from this location represent?