Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. Leo Tolstoy

FACTORS AFFECTING CLIMATE LOCALLY OR REGIONALLY ARE:

1)ELEVATION2)TOPOGRAPHY3)PROXIMITY TO WATER4)OCEAN CURRENTS5)PREVALING WINDS6)LATITUDE

LET’S CONSIDER LAND SURFACE. ONE FACTOR IS ELEVATION.

AS YOU GO UP IN ALTITUDE, TEMPERATURE DECREASES.

YOU CAN SEE THIS IN MOUNTAINS. THE VEGETATION TYPE CHANGES WITH ALTITUDE. ABOVE A CERTAIN ALTITUDE, THE TEMPERATURE HAS DECREASED TO THE POINT WHERE TREES WON’T GROW. THIS IS THE TREE LINE.

ANOTHER FACTOR IS PROXIMITY TO WATER. WATER CHANGES TEMPERATURE SLOWER THAN LAND.

AN AREA ALONG THE COAST WILL BE COOLER IN SPRING AND SUMMER THAN AN INLAND AREA.

AN AREA ALONG THE COAST WILL BE WARMER IN FALL AND WINTER THAN AN INLAND AREA.

THE IMPACT OF WATER AND LAND CAN ALSO BE SEEN VERY LOCALLY WITH SEA BREEZES.

AN EXAMPLE OF THE IMPACT OF OCEAN CURRENTS ON CLIMATE IS THE GULF STREAM. EXAMINE THE PICTURE BELOW:

NORTHEN EUROPE IS UPWIND OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN WHICH IS WARMED BY THE GULF STREAM AND THE NORTH ATLANTIC DRIFT. SO, ITS CLIMATE IS MUCH MILDER THAN IT WOULD BE OTHERWISE.

THE IMPACT OF PREVAILING WINDS AND TOPOGRAPHY CAN BE SHOWN WITH THE MAP OF THE U.S. BELOW:

1. THE PREVAILING WESTERLY WINDS BRING WET WEATHER TO THE CASCADES OF WASHINGTON AND OREGON WHEN THEY BLOW MOIST AIR OFF THE PACIFIC, AND IT RISES WHEN IT HITS THE CASCADES.

2. THESE SAME WESTERLY WINDS HAVE LOST MOST OF THEIR MOISTURE BY THE TIME THEY CROSS THE CASCADES AND SIERRAS, SO EASTERN WASHINGTON IS DRY.

3. THE ROCKIES HAVE THE SAME EFFECT ON WINDS FROM THE WEST AND SOUTHWEST, SO MUCH OF WEST TEXAS, COLORADO, AND WYOMING IS DRY.

4. THE APPALACHIANS MODERATE THE WEATHER FOR PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA.

THE IMPACT OF LATITUDE IS CERTAINLY DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF SUNLIGHT RECEIVED PER UNIT AREA ON AVERAGE DURING THE YEAR WITH HIGHER LATITUDES GETTING FAR LESS SUNLIGHT THAT LOWER LATITUDES.

PREVAILING WINDS ALSO PLAY A PART BECAUSE OF THE GLOBAL WIND CELLS.