Guiding Questions: Climate Notes

Section 14.1 What is Climate?

1.Define climatology- is the study of earths
climate and the factors that affect past,
present, and future climatic changes
2.What factors does climate include in
addition to average weather conditions?
Temperature, precipitation, wind and other
weather variables
3.Give two examples of how climatic data
can be used. Climatic data can be used to
indicate the warmest and coldest
temperature recorded in an area and it
can be used to compare the climate of
different areas
4.Why must we exercise caution when using
normal to predict weather? weather
conditions on any given day might differ
widely from normal and they only apply to
a specific place
5.What factors cause climate? Latitude and
Topographic effects, and air masses
6.Why are coastal areas cooler in the
summer than inland areas? Water heats
up and cools down more slowly than land
7.Describe the relationship between
temperature and altitude. Effected by the

Earths tiltm effect show the suns ray hit

the earth
8.Figure 14-3 depicts what effect of
orographic lifting that we discussed last
Friday? (HINT: return to those notes!)
Moist air on the windward side and dry air
on the leeward side

Section 14.2 Climate Classification

1.Name the system used to classify climates.
What factors does it consider? The koeppen
classification syste; it uses temperature
and precipitation
2.List the six main climate types. Tropical,
dry, mild, continental, polar, and
microclimates
3.What climate type do we live in? List its
characteristics. Humid subtropical climate,
which is affected by the high pressure
systems found over oceans in the summer.
It is made up of warm, muggy weather in
the summer and cool, dry conditions in the
winter
4.What is a microclimate? Give an example.
A main localized climate that differs from
the main regional climate; you experience
this when you climb to the top of a
mountain

5.What is the heat island effect and where

does it occur? It is where the climate is
warmer than in surrounding rural areas; it
mainly happens in areas with lots of
concrete and asphalt
Guiding Questions: Climate Notes