Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Climate Factors - Coggle Diagram
Climate Factors
Latitude
-
Lines of latitude are significant not just for global navigation but, more fundamentally, because they reflect the changing angle of the sun in respect to the earth. This alone determines day length, seasonality, and to a large extent, climate.
Imaginary horizontal line that never intersects with the 0 degree line at the equator, and divides the world into the North and South hemisphere.
-
Elevation
Elevation affects local climate. As elevation increases, temperatures Becomes cooler. This has to do with air density, or how close or far apart air molecules are from each other. Air molecules are held together by gravity. The higher up they are, the harder it is for gravity to hold together.
Temperature normally decreases as elevation or height increases, making locations at higher elevations colder.
-
Relief Precipitation
Geographers use the term relief to describe the difference in height between the highest point and lowest point in area. Mountainous areas have high relief (large difference between the highest and lowest points), and plains have low relief (small differences). Places of high relief can have a big impact on precipitation.
When air reaches a mountain, it is forced to lift and rise over the barrier. The further up the mountain the colder the temperature. Then, when the air travels back down the mountain it gets warmer and drier, because the moisture in the air dried out during the rise up the mountain.
-
Ocean Currents
Oceans make up about 70 percent of Earth's surface. Within the ocean are massive flows of water called ocean currents. Ninety percent of the ocean are currents are cold deep-water currents. Cold currents begin in the polar regions and bring cool water to the equator. The remaining 10 percent of ocean currents are warm surface currents. The ocean currents stabilizes the whole worlds temperatures by getting rid of the hot air.
Ocean currents regulate global climate, helping to counteract the uneven distribution of solar radiation reaching Earth's surface. It does this by mixing the warm water near the equator.
-
Bodies of Water
Large bodies of water, such as oceans, seas and large lakes, can affect the climate of an area. Water heats and cools more slowly than landmasses.
-
Bodies of water take a long time to heat up or cool down compared to the land around them. This helps keep the temperatures of land nearby from extreme. In Winter, the heat from the bodies of water warms the air above it.
