Guiding Questions: Climate Notes

Section 14.1 What is Climate?

1.Define climatology.
The study of earths climate and the
factors that affect the past, present and
future climatic changes
2.What factors does climate include in
addition to average weather conditions?
Describes the long term weather patterns
of an area
3.Give two examples of how climatic data
can be used.
Temperature and precipitation
4.Why must we exercise caution when using
normals to predict weather?
Weather patterns on any given day might
differ widley from normals
5.What factors cause climate?
Air masses, latitude, tropical effects
6.Why are coastal areas cooler in the
summer than inland areas?
This is because water heat and cools faster
than on land which can have an effect on the
climate in that area.
7.Describe the relationship between
temperature and altitude.
Temperatures in the lower atmosphere
generally decrease with altitude.

8.Figure 14-3 depicts what effect of

orographic lifting that we discussed last
Friday? (HINT: return to those notes!)
It rains on the windward side of the
mountain because of the two air masses
that are trying to get through each other.
Section 14.2 Climate Classification
1.Name the system used to classify climates.
What factors does it consider?
Koeppen classification system. The
temperature and amount of precipitation
are the factors it considers.
2.List the six main climate types.
Tropical, dry, mild, continental, polar
3.What climate type do we live in? List its
characteristics.
We live in a mild climate there are different
levels of the mild climate.
4.What is a microclimate? Give an example.
A localized climate that differs from the main
regional climate.
5.What is the heat island effect and where
does it occur?
The presence of many buildings and large
expanses of asphalt in large city areas