Climate Flashcards
Name the climate regions of Canada
- Arctic
- Taiga
- Boreal
- Prairie
- Cordillera
- Pacific Maritime
- Atlantic Maritime
- Southeastern
What is weather?
A combination of temperature, precipitation, cloud cover, and winds that occur daily.
What is climate?
Weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period of time.
Continental climate is what?
- low precipitation
- great temperature range
Maritime climate is what?
- high precipitation
- low temperature range
How does the greenhouse effect protect life?
- Absorbs ultraviolet solar radiation
- Warms the surface through heat retention
- Reduces temperature extremes
List the major world climate regions in order
- High latitudes/ Arctic circle
- Temperate Regions/ Middle latitudes
- Low latitudes/ Tropics
- Polar regions
The antarctic circle lies where?
66.5 degrees south
Where is the arctic circle?
66.5 degrees north
Climate influences what?
- Clothing
- Housing
- Where people live
Why does Canada’s climate vary so much?
- Cover a lot of distance north to south
- Different elevations- Canada has several highlands and lowlands
- Coastal and inland regions have different climates
- Wind and pressure systems move weather conditions around
What does latitude affect?
Average annual temperature
What happens when you increase elevation? Why?
It gets colder because there is less air pressure to trap the heat.
How do ocean currents affect temperature and what does this cause in Canada?
Air passing over ocean currents is effected by the temperature as they are. In Canada this makes the temperatures of the east and west coasts to differ greatly.
What are air masses?
Air masses are large volumes of air with the climate conditions of where they were formed.
Total annual precipitation can range from:
140 mm-1229mm
How does precipitation occur?
Air containing water vapor cools to the point that condensation is greater than evaporation.
What are the main types of precipitation?
Relief,convectional, and frontal
How does relief precipitation occur?
Air rises up the windward slope of a mountain range, expands, and cools.
The rate of evaporation decreases and the rate of condensation increases. Water droplets form in the air, become to heavy, and fall.On the leeward side of the mountain the opposite occurs, where the air descends.
How does convectional precipitation occur?
Heated ground due to sun causes water vapor in warm air to rise. As Air expands and cools, water vapor condenses and falls to ground sometimes as thunderstorms
How does frontal precipitation occur?
A warm and cold air mass collide. The warm is forced above the cold where water vapor condenses and precipitates on the leading edges of the masses- the warm front and the cold front.
What affects climate?
Latitude, Ocean currents, Wind, Elevation, Relief, Near water.
How does latitude affect climate?
Temperature decreases as you move further north or south because the sun’s rays are spread over a larger area.
How do ocean currents affect climate on the west coast?
The warm North Pacific current heats the cool, moist air over it. This gives the west coast a mild climate.
How does wind affect climate?
Global pattern of prevailing winds that move air masses and affect our weather
How does elevation affect climate?
The higher up you go the cooler it gets.
What is the rate of cooling?
0.6 degrees/ 100m
How does relief affect climate?
Mountain ranges act as barriers to The movement of air masses and cause precipitation.
How does nearness to water affect climate?
Water heats and cools slowly. Winter: water is Warmer than land and opposite in summer
What are all the climate types?
Arctic, continental, humid continental, west coast maritime, east coast maritime.
What characterizes an arctic climate? Give an example.
- High temperature range.
- Low annual precipitation
- Cold winters, cool short summers.
- Low average annual temperature
ex. Alert, NWT
What characterizes a continental climate? Give an example.
- High temperature range
- Low annual precipitation
- Cold winters, warm summers
- Most precipitation in summer
ex. Regina, Sask.
What characterizes a humid continental climate? Give an example.
- Moderate temperature range.
- Moderate annual precipitation
- Mild winters, hot summers
- Higher precipitation in summer.
ex. Toronto, ON
What characterizes a west coast maritime climate? Give an example.
- Low temperature range
- High annual precipitation
- Mild winters, mild summers
- Low summer precipitation
ex. Vancouver, BC
What characterizes an east cost maritime climate? Give an example.
- Low temperature range.
- High annual precipitation
- Moderate winters, moderate summers
- Same precipitation all year round
ex. Halifax, NS
