BY SAMANTHA DARZA
factors that determine climate
Climate is the average weather of a place that is there for over many years. There are many different types of factors that influence and help determine our climate. This includes elevation or altitude, global wind patterns, geography, topography, etc. But, there are other factors that badly impacts the climate and causes it to change, and these factors can be natural. Global climate change has greatly impacted our environment in a way that can be also severe.
Elevation or altitude
Climatic conditions usually become colder as the altitude increases due to the temperature dropping at higher altitudes. As it gets higher, the air pressure decreases thus having the air expand and get colder. These cooler temperatures results in more snowfall because of less evaporation and having more moisture in the air. The high lands occasionally can prevent the air from moving to the lower areas thus limiting the transport of water making it very dry and having a desert-like climate in the lower areas.
global wind patterns
There are three major wind patterns in the Northern Hemisphere and another three in the Southern Hemisphere. The global wind belts have a predictable trend for each season. As season change from one to another, the wind patterns shift to the North or South. As they move, they can bring warmer weather to the North or colder weather to the South. However, these movements have the capability to form severe storms to an area and cause temperatures to rise or fall. The prevailing winds can affect the climate by bringing in the cold air or warm air.
topography
The topography of an area can influence its climate. Topography are the natural and artificial physical features of an area. For example, the mountain ranges are capable of blocking air movements like a natural barrier. Winds from the Pacific ocean can carry moisture into a coast in places like California. It allows more condensation and precipitation. As sinking air warms from compression, dry conditions are created in places such as the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada.
geography
The position of a place plays an essential role when it comes to determining their climate. It's because there are factors that can affect the climate, such as their distance from the mountains or any areas of water around them. These factors can help determine its prevailing wind patterns and the air masses that impact it. The mountains, valleys and bodies of water in local topography can influence the precipitation and temperature.The distance from the equator can also impact the temperature and precipitation. For example, due to cooler ocean air moving ashore, the coastal areas may face refreshing breezes that can help cool their summer. In the South and East of the Great Lakes, they can face snow in the winter because of the "lake effect" as the cold air goes over warmer waters. The air can also pick up humidity from the waters. Mountains can affect the local climate. For example, Death Valley, California is a hot and dry area because the warm air descends the leeward side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The warm air then settles in Death Valley at 86 meters below sea level.
Global climate change
Global climate change has already caused some effects on the environment, such as glaciers shrinking, ice on waters breaking up, plant and animal ranges shifted, etc. Some of the effects that scientist had predicted in the past that could happen from global climate change is occurring, like lost of sea ice, sea level rising, extreme heat waves, etc. They predict that Earth's climate change due to the natural causes and human activity. Global climate is often change due to the variations in sunlight. Wobbles in the Earth's orbit can lead to an alter in when and where the sunlight falls. Major volcanic eruptions can bring sulfur dioxide gas into the atmosphere and the gas can then convert to small particles that can remain for a year. These particles are capable of reflecting the sunlight thus dropping the temperatures across the globe and can last for up to two to three years. This situation when volcanoes erupted in El Chichon in 1982 and Pinatubo in 1991.
RESOURCE:
- "Climate & Weather." Factors That Influence Climate. Weather & Climate, 2010. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.
- Peterson, John. "What Effect Does Geography Have on Climate?" Science. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
- Przyborski, Paul. "Global Warming : Feature Articles." Global Warming : Feature Articles. EOS
Project Science Office, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.
PICTURES:
- Climate change- http://www.sott.net/article/128521-Climate-Change-Swindlers-and-the-Political-Agenda
- Rain/sun/wind/snow- http://www.eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/what1.htm
- Earth- http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/nicholasbridge/files/2013/10/ClimateChange030413.jpeg
- Topography- http://www.meteorologyclimate.com/climate-variation-factors.htm
- Elevation or altitude- http://xpeditiononline.com/xpedition.html