Weather and Climate - MSU Lecture Notes PDF

TOPIC 3: WEATHER AND CLIMATE  WEATHER Weather is a mix of events that happen in our atmosphere including temperature, rainfall and humidity Weather refers to the condition of the atmosphere over a short time, such as a day. Can be hot, dry, sunny, cloudy, raining,...

TOPIC 3: WEATHER AND CLIMATE  WEATHER Weather is a mix of events that happen in our atmosphere including temperature, rainfall and humidity Weather refers to the condition of the atmosphere over a short time, such as a day. Can be hot, dry, sunny, cloudy, raining, snowing, etc. Meteorologists : records and predict weather events.  CLIMATE Climate refers to long run average weather patterns over a period of years. Example ; how cold or hot it is in certain place over a long period of time. Climate is affected by several factors – LATITUDE – how far the place from the equator. Nearer = hotter – ALTITUDE – how high a place is above sea level. Higher = cooler. – OCEANS – waters don’t change temperature as quick as land areas do.  CLIMATE Precipitation is the amount of water in the form of rain, snow, sleeted, that falls from the sky. It determines the climate of an area. An area with little precipitation has a dry or arid climate.  CLIMATIC ZONE OF THE WORLD There are 3 basic climate zones – Tropical climate zone- This area is hot all year long. – Temperate climate zone- the climate in this area is warm in the summer and cold in the winter – Polar climate zone- the winter are very cold and the summer is cool to cold. TROPICAL CLIMATE ZONE TROPICAL CLIMATE ZONE TEMPERATE CLIMATE ZONE TEMPERATE CLIMATE ZONE ARCTIC CLIMATE ZONE ARCTIC CLIMATE ZONE CLIMATIC ZONE OF THE WORLD  TROPICAL WET CLIMATE - A tropical climate is a climate of the tropics. - all twelve months have mean temperatures above 18 °C. - tropical temperature remains relatively constant throughout the year and seasonal variations are dominated by precipitation.  Examples:  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Belém, Brazil  Iquitos, Peru  Amazon Basin, South America  Hilo, Hawaii, United States  Georgetown, Guyana  Congo Basin, Congo  TROPICAL WET AND DRY / SAVANNAH  These climates have a pronounced dry season, with the driest month having precipitation less than 60 mm and also less than (100 − [total annual precipitation {mm}/25]).Examples:  Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia  Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico  Mumbai, Maharashtra, India  Port-au-Prince, Haiti  Dar es Salaam, Tanzania  Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria  Honolulu, Hawaii, United States  DRY: ARID  A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. As a result, environments subject to arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic.  Example:  Yuma, Arizona, United States  Dubai, United Arab Emirates  DRY: SEMI ARID  Semi-arid climates tend to support short or scrubby vegetation, with semi-arid areas usually being dominated by either grasses or shrubs.  Example:  Konya, Turkey  Murcia,Spain  Albacete, Spain  Almería,Spain  MODERATE: MEDITERRANEAN  A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin as part of subtropical climate. Worldwide, this is where the largest area of this climate type is found.  The climate is characterized by warm to hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters.  Most large, historic cities of the Mediterranean basin, including Athens, Barcelona, Beirut, Jerusalem, Lisbon, Marseille and Rome, lie within Mediterranean climatic zones, as do major cities outside of the Mediterranean, such as Cape Town, Los Angeles, San Diego, Adelaide, Perth, San Francisco, and Santiago de Chile.  MODERATE : HUMID SUB-TROPICAL  A humid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and cool winters. This climate type covers a broad category of climates, and the term "subtropical" may be a misnomer for the winter climate.  Humid subtropical climates lie on the southeast side of all continents, generally between latitudes 25° and 40° north and south.  Po Valley of Italy, which includes Venice, the Toulouse region of France, and along the Black Sea coast.  MODERATE : MARINE WEST COAST  This climate is found on the west coast of mid-latitude continents and is very humid through most of the year. Its geographic location places it in the path of westerly winds from the ocean that bring cloudy skies, much precipitation, and mild temperatures. The distribution of the climate is greatly influenced by the orientation of mountain systems in North America and Europe.  The marine west coast climate is found along a relatively narrow strip of coastal Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and southern Alaska in North America. It is likewise found along coastal Chile in South America. The marine west coast climate extends further inland into northwest Europe than in North America due to the orientation of mountains. This climate is also found on the southeast coast of Australia and New Zealand.  CONTINENTAL : HUMID CONTINENTAL  A humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters.  tend to be found above 40° N latitude, and within the central and northeastern portions of North America, Europe, and Asia.  CONTINENTAL :  The subarctic climate (also called boreal climate) is a climate characterized by long, usually very cold winters, and SUBARCTIC short, cool to mild summers. It is found on large landmasses, away from the moderating effects of an ocean, generally at latitudes from 50° to 70°N pole ward of the humid continental climates  This type of climate offers some of the most extreme seasonal temperature variations found on the planet: In winter, temperatures can drop to −40 °C (−40 °F) and in summer, the temperature may exceed +30 °C (86 °F). However, the summers are short; no more than three months of the year (but at least one month) must have a 24-hour average temperature of at least +10 °C (50 °F) to fall into this category of climate.  EXAMPLE :  Siberia  Iceland  Most Canada  POLAR : TUNDRA  The tundra is a bleak and treeless place. It is cold through all months of the year Summer is a brief period of milder climates when the sun shines almost 24 hours a day. It has been called "the land of the midnight sun". But even the sun can't warm the tundra much. The short summer lasts only 6 to 10 weeks. It never gets any warmer than 45 or 50° F.  The latitude range for the tundra is from the arctic circle to 60° to 70° latitude North. Parts of Alaska and northern Canada contains tundra biome and climates. Tundra climate can also be found in northern Europe and Russia.  POLAR : ICECAP  An ice cap is an ice mass that covers less than 50 000 km² of land area (usually covering a highland area).  Ice caps are not constrained by topographical features (i.e., they will lie over the top of mountains) but their dome is usually centered on the highest point of a massif.  Vatnajökull is an example of an ice cap in Iceland  POLAR : HIGHLAND  Highland climates are cool to cold, found in mountains and high plateaus. Climates change rapidly on mountains, becoming colder the higher the altitude gets. The climate of a highland area is closely related to the climate of the surrounding biome. The highlands have the same seasons and wet and dry periods as the biome they are in.  Examples : Rocky Mountain Range in North America, the Andean mountain range in South America, the Alps in Europe, Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, the Himalayans in Tibet, Mt. Fuji in Japan. MAJOR MOUNTAIN RANGE DESERT DESERTS OF THE WORLD CHANGE OF SEASON 4 SEASONS  CHANGE OF SEASON Seasons change on or around the 21st of four months: June, September, December and March. December begins March brings on winter spring June means September gives summer is autumn weather. beginning and  CHANGE OF SEASON Seasons change on or around the 21st of four months: June, September, December and March. In the Northern In the Southern Hemisphere, hemisphere, the December begins opposite is true. winter, March December starts brings on spring, summer, March is June means the beginning of summer is fall, June starts beginning and the winter season September gives and September autumn weather. brings spring. CHANGE OF SEASON