Defining Climate
Climatology
- The study of Earths climate and the factors that cause past,present, and future climatic changes.
- Studies of climate show extreme fluctuations of these variables over time.
Limitations of Normals
- Data used to describe an areas climate are compiled from meteorological records.
- data includes daily high and low temperatures, amount of rainfall, wind speed and direction, humidity, and air pressure
Tropics
- Area between 23.5 South and 23.5 North of the equator
Temp Zones
- lie between 23.5 and 66.5 North and South of the equator
Polar Zones
- located from 66.5 North and South of the equator to the poles
Topographic effects
- Water heats up and cools down more slowly than land.
- Many coastal regions are warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than inland area at similar latitudes.
Air Masses
- Two of the main causes of weather are the movement and interactions of air masses
- Air masses commonly found over North America