Summary and Review

Climate: The general atmospheric conditions of a region as defined by average monthly rainfall and average monthly temperature based on long-term data.

Factors that Influence Climate

• latitude
  • polar regions tend to be dry and cold
  • temperate regions tend to experience seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation
  • deserts tend occur at 30^o N and S latitude, but can be on the leeward side of mountains
  • tropical regions tend to be wet and warm depending on other factors
• Elevation
  • air temperature decreases for every 1000 feet that elevation increases
  • precipitation tends to be greater on the windward side of mountains near large bodies of water
  • precipitation tends to be lower on the leeward side of mountains
• Proximity to large bodies of water
  • depending on prevailing winds, regions near large bodies of water tend to be wetter than those distant from a large body of water
• Ocean Currents
  • regions near warm ocean currents tend to be warm and wet
  • regions near cold ocean currents tend to be cool and wet
  • the effect depends on prevailing wind directions
• Prevailing Winds
  • unequal heating of Earth's surface leads to differences in air pressure
  • air moves from high pressure to low pressure
  • large air masses curve as the result of Earth's spherical shape and rotation around a polar axis