weather and climate

Question 1

how does latitude affect temperature and why

Answer 1

higher the latitude, lower the temperature

• temperatures are lower at higher latitudes because the solar angle is lower and solar energy is spread out over a wide area
• as solar angle is higher at lower latitude, so heat from the sun is concentrated on a small areas → temperatures are higher at lower latitudes

Question 2

how does altitude affect temperature and why

Answer 2

• as alt increases, temp decreases
• 45% of shortwave radiation is directly absorbed by the earth’s surface heating it up. the warm surface then emits the heat in the form of longwave radiation. the higher up the atmosphere, the further away you are from the heated ground
• longwave radiation emitted by earth is absorbed by greenhouse gases, trapping solar energy and warming the earth. air that is nearer to the earth’s surface absorbs more heat from longwave radiation than air air altitudes
• air is less dense at higher altitudes, and less dense air has lesser ability to absorb heat compared to denser air, resulting in lower temperatures

Question 3

how does maritime effect occur

Answer 3

• during summer. air over the sea is cooler than air over land as the sea has a larger heat capacity and heats up slower than the land. the cooler air over the sea helps to lower the temperature of coastal areas
• during winter, the air over the sea is warmer than the air over the earth as the sea has a higher heat capacity and loses heat slower than the land. the warmer air over the sea increases the temperature of coastal areas
• thus, coastal areas experience coller summers and warmer winters, resulting in a smaller annual temperature range

Question 4

how does continental effect occur

Answer 4

• causes inland areas to have a larger annual temperature range
• the temperature of inland areas are not influenced by the sea, so they exprience warmer summers and cooler winters, resulting in a larger annual temperature range than coastal areas

Question 5

how does presence of clouds affect temperature

Answer 5

• during the day, clouds reflect a large portion of the suns energy back to space, keeping the earth’s surface cool. at the same time, clouds also absorb heat radiated from the earth’s surface
• during the night, clouds absorb more of the heat that is radiated from the earth’s surface and prevent it from escaping into space. thus keeping the earth warm at night
• smaller diurnal temperature range

Question 6

how does absence of clouds affect temperature

Answer 6

• during the day, large amounts of solar energy is able to reach the earth, heating earths surface up quickly
• during the night, the absence of clouds allows more longwave radiation to escape into space, keeping the air near the earths surface cooler at night
• larger diurnal temperature range

Question 7

example how altitude affects temp more than latitude

Answer 7

quito, ecuador is located along the equator but has an altitude of 2800m and has a cool mean monthly temperature of 14C as compared to singapore that is also located along the equator but has an altitude of 15m and a high mean monthly temperature of 27.5C