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Climate Regions
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What is Climate?
Weather is the day-to-day changes inatmospheric conditions
Climate is long-term weather conditions
Temperature and precipitation are the mostimportant expressions of climate
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What aspects of the environment are
influenced by climate? Vegetation Animal life
Soils
Landforms
Water resources
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Ecosystems
What is an ecosystem?
An area of interaction between plants,animals,and their environment
Unique ecosystems evolve as a result of
differing climate conditions Climatology studies the climate regions that
have evolved in response to different moistureand temperature conditions
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Does Climate Repeat Itself?
Koppens Climate Region Map
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Can we make any generalizations?
Latitude Single most important factor-Why?
Maritime versus continental locations
Windward coasts have cooler summers and warmerwinters
Precipitation related to pressure andwind belts
High pressure dry, Converging winds - rainy
Mountains have different climates Mountains are cooler than lowlands
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Greeks Climate Regions
Frigid
Frigid
Temperate
Temperate
Torrid
Latitude
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Maritime and Continental Climates
Crescent City
Chicago
New York
Maritime climates areunder the influence ofwesterly winds
Continentalclimate
dominated bycontinentaltemperatures
Continental climates are
under the influence ofwinds from thecontinental interior
Cold CaliforniaCurrent bringscoolertemperatures to the
coast in summer
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Herbertsons Climate Regions
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Pressure and Wind Belts
Polar High
Polar Easterlies
Polar Front
Westerlies
SubtropicalHigh
N E TradeWinds
IntertropicalConvergence Zone
SE Trades
What is the climate of each of these pressure and wind belts?
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What happens to all these pressure
and wind belts?
They shift north and south with the overheadsun
Do they shift as far north and south as theTropics of Cancer and Capricorn?
No, about 5 N and 5 S
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Where in the World is it Raining Today ?
The worlds rainy places coincide with
global pressure and wind belts
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Three Major Rain Belts
The Northern Hemisphere Polar Front
Midlatitude Cyclonic Storms - low pressure
The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
Trade winds converge along the equatorial low
Convectional lifting produces cumulus clouds
The Southern Hemisphere Polar Front
Midlatitude Cyclonic Storms - low pressure
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Animation Showing Monthly Rainfall
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Mean Annual Precipitation
STH STH
STH STHSTH
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Africas Climate Regions
Tropic of Cancer
Equator
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North America Climates
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Koppens Climate Classification
Most widely used map of climate regions
Empirical-quantitative approach that uses climatestatistics compiled over 30 years
Designed with plants in mind Each climate is defined according to set values of
mean monthly precipitation and mean monthytemperature
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Koppens Climate Regions
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Koppen Classification
(A) Tropical rainy climates
Every month over 64.4 F
(B)Dry climates
Evaporation exceeds precipitation
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Koppen Classification
(C) Mild, humid climates Coldest month below 64.4 F but above 26.6 F
(D) Snowy-forest climates
Coldest month below 26.6 F but warmest month over50F
(E) Polar climates
Warmest month below 50 F
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Why is the Bay Area rainy in
winter and dry in summer?
The jet stream and the Polar Front move intothe Bay Area in winter
The Subtropical High dominates our weatherin Summer
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Global Regions of Mediterranean and Marine
west-coast C climates.
Mediterranean Climate Zones: West coasts ~30-40 Latitude
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Global Regions of Moist Subtropical Climate
East coasts ~25-35
Latitude.
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East vs. West Coast Climates
Mediterranean Climate in
Monterey, CA
Moist subtropical climate in
Charleston, South Carolina.
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West Coast Precipitation
Dry all year
~20-30
Dry summer wet
winter ~30-40
Dry summer wet
winter ~30-40
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Reality Check
Most climates between thetropics of Cancer andCapricorn are:
Which major climate group isnot in the Southernhemisphere?
Which major group forms thecold summer climates of theArctic?
Which climates are dry?
What climate dominatesAustralia?
Does the U.S. have any A(tropical moist) climates?
Does the U.S. have a BWh (hotdesert)?
What major climate groupdominates Canada andRussia?
What climate makes up most ofWestern Europe?
What climate is not classifiedusing Koppen?
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Berkeley and San Jose Climographs
Annual rainfall 14.6 inchesAnnual rainfall 22.3 inches
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Review Questions
1. What do clouds need in addition to saturation?
2. Consider the topographic profile diagrammed below.
Cloud condensation nuclei
Ocean
Prevailing windsA
C
B
This would induce what type of lifting?
What is the process that causes condensation?
How would the amount of precipitation at A, B, and C
compare?
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What is the cause of the seasons?
Tilt of earths axis as it orbits the sun
Revolution
Parallelism