Introduction to Climate

-=Engr. Dielene F. De Guzman=-

 What is Climate?

• The climate of a place may be defined as

a "composite" of the long-term prevailing
weather that occurs at that location.
• In a sense, climate is "average weather".
 How do we measure Climate?

• Climate can be measured quantitatively by

calculating the long term averages of
different climate elements such as
temperature and rainfall.
 We can study climate on a
range of geographical scales.
• LOCAL CLIMATES
– influence areas maybe only a few miles or
tens of miles across
– examples are Sea Breezes and Urban
Heating and Orographic Effects Of Mountains
 We can study climate on a
range of geographical scales.
• REGIONAL CLIMATES
– provide a picture of particular patterns of
weather within individual countries, or within
climate zones that exist at different latitudes
on the Earth.
 What are the different Climate
Zones in the planet?
• TROPICAL
• SUBTROPICAL
• DESERT
• SAVANNAH
• TEMPERATE
• POLAR
 Who studies climates?
• Climatology is the study of "average weather".
• Meteorology is the study of day-by-day variations in the
weather. Climatology, in contrast, is the study long-term
weather patterns and variations, usually over a number of years.
• t is concerned with both the description of climate and the analysis
of the causes of climatic differences, and more recently climate
changes and their practical consequences. Climatology
investigates the same atmospheric processes as meteorology, but
also seeks to identify the longer-term influences on climate,
such as the circulation of the oceans and the small variations in
the intensity of sunlight.
What is the diff between
weather and climate?
 Factors influencing CLIMATE
• Latitude
• Oceans
• Land-Sea Distribution
• Mountain Ranges
 Factors influencing CLIMATE/Latitude

• Latitude
• • Oceans
provides the location of a place north or south of the equator
and is expressed by angular measurements ranging from 0°
• the
at Land-Sea
equator toDistribution
90° at the poles
• • Mountain
Places nearer theRanges
equator receive more sunlight and are much
warmer than places nearer poles.
• excepting the planetary distribution of land and sea, latitude is
the main factor determining a region's climate.

• From April to September, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted

towards the Sun, and consequently receives more energy.
 Factors influencing CLIMATE/Latitude

• During October to March, the Southern Hemisphere is

tilted towards the Sun, and summer in the Southern
Hemisphere occurs at this time.
• During the Northern Hemisphere summer, the North
Pole receives 24 hours daylight, whilst the South
Pole experiences 24 hours darkness.
 Factors influencing CLIMATE
• Latitude
• Oceans
• Land-Sea Distribution
• Mountain Ranges
 Factors influencing CLIMATE/Oceans

Oceans
• The significance of the oceans is that they store a much
greater quantity of energy than the atmosphere. Heat
transfers between the oceans and the atmosphere have
a major influence on climates.
• Energy in the oceans is circulated around the world,
transferring heat from low latitudes to high latitudes.
• This energy is redistributed by a global system of ocean
currents inter-connected to form the global ocean
circulation.
 Factors influencing CLIMATE/Oceans
The great ocean conveyor belt of global ocean currents as
described in Broecker (1991). Winds drive warm salty ocean
currents in the global pattern of atmospheric circulation.
Note that the flow of warm currents is relatively unimpeded in the
Pacific Ocean. In the Atlantic Ocean, however, México and
Central America block the westward flow, forcing the
current northward (Gulf Stream). The cold currents in the
polar regions are denser than warm equatorial waters, and
therefore they sink, forming cold deep water. Atlantic deep
water forms near Greenland, travels to Antarctica, adds cold
salty water from Antarctica, and then continues into the Pacific
Ocean. Modified from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC)
Factors influencing CLIMATE/Oceans
 Factors influencing CLIMATE
• Latitude
• Oceans
• Land-Sea Distribution
• Mountain Ranges
 Factors influencing CLIMATE/Land-Sea Distribution

• Land surfaces react quickly to heat gain and loss, becoming

warm in summer, cold in winter.
• The oceans react far more slowly and during the summer they
are cooler than the adjoining land, whilst in winter they are
warmer.
• High atmospheric pressure usually develops over cold areas
were air is descending, whilst low pressure forms over warmer
regions where air is rising.
• The moderating influence of the oceans helps to restrict
extremes in climate in coastal areas of the world.
 Factors influencing CLIMATE
• Latitude
• Oceans
• Land-Sea Distribution
• Mountain Ranges
Factors influencing CLIMATE/Mountain Ranges

• Mountains influence climate from local and

regional scales to even the scale of the whole
global climate.
• At the local scale mountains force air to rise,
and consequently assist the development of
clouds and precipitation.
• Mountains tend to have much wetter climates
than the surrounding plains, particular those low-
lying areas downwind in the rain shadow.
Factors influencing CLIMATE/Mountain Ranges
Factors influencing CLIMATE/Mountain Ranges

• There is now little doubt that the presence of

mountain ranges on the Earth can dramatically
influence global climate.
• Most airflow in the Earth's atmosphere is
orientated along east-west trends, on account of
the Earth's rotation and Coriolis force.
• Consequently, north-south orientated mountain
ranges have the ability to influence the general
circulation.
Factors influencing CLIMATE/Mountain Ranges

• The Rocky Mountains that stretch along the

western side of North America, for example,
deflect air to the north, which cools in the polar
latitudes before returning south. The colder
northwesterly wind influences the climates of the
Canadian and United States interiors, and winter
temperatures can be exceedingly low.
Factors influencing CLIMATE/Mountain Ranges
Factors influencing CLIMATE/Mountain Ranges
Factors influencing CLIMATE/Land-Sea Distribution
 SEA BREEZES

Opposing sea breezes meeting over

Cuba forming a line of cumulus
clouds.

IMAGES FROM http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/

 URBAN HEATING
• Temperatures are often a few degrees higher in
cities than they are in their surrounding rural
areas.
Orographic Effect of Mountains
 TROPICAL CLIMATE
PROPERTIES
• experiences hot and humid weather
• abundant rainfall due to the active vertical uplift or
convection of air that takes place, and during certain
periods, thunderstorms can occur every day
• receives considerable sunshine
• with the excessive rainfall, provides ideal growing
conditions for luxuriant vegetation
• The principal regions with a tropical climate are the
Amazon Basin in Brazil, the Congo Basin in West
Africa and Indonesia.
 DESERT CLIMATE
PROPERTIES
• Areas where the rainfall is too low to sustain any
vegetation at all.
• The rainfall in desert areas is less than 250 mm or 10
inches per year.
• The hot deserts are situated in the subtropical climate
zone where there is unbroken sunshine for the whole
year due to the stable descending air and high pressure.
• Areas include the Sahara, Saudi Arabia, large parts of
Iran and Iraq, northwest India, California, South
Africa and much of Australia.
 DESERT CLIMATE
PROPERTIES
• Maximum temperatures of 40 to 45°C are common,
although during colder periods of the year, night-time
temperatures can drop to freezing or below due to the
exceptional radiation loss under the clear skies.
• The Gobi desert in Mongolia is an example of a cool
desert.
• Semi-desert areas include the Steppes of southern
Russia and central Asia, and the Parries of Canada.
• Mongolian Steppe
• A prairie in Canada
 SAVANNAH
• Areas between the wet equatorial belt and the
subtropical desert regions
• Have a single short rainy season when the Sun is nearly
overhead, whilst the rest of the year is dry
• Vegetation consists mostly of scrub and grassland,
which blossoms during the rainy period, and dies off
during the prolonged dry season
• common in the Sahel in Northern Africa (south of the
Sahara), large parts of India and parts of northern
Australia.
• A savanna in Africa
 TEMPERATE
Climates are those without extremes of temperature and
precipitation (rain and snow).
There are two types of temperate climate:
• Maritime
• Continental
 TEMPERATE
Maritime Climate
• Oceanicity is a measure of the degree to which the
climate of a region is influenced by a maritime airflow
from the oceans.
• Maritime climates experience generally cool summers
and mild winters, with a much smaller annual
temperature range.
• Why?
• Maritime climates generally are fairly humid,
accompanied by considerable amounts of
precipitation, since the main moisture source is not very
far away.
 TEMPERATE
Continental Climate
• Continentality is a measure of the degree to which the
climate of a region typifies that of the interior of a large
landmass.
• Usually experience hot summers and colder winters,
being far away from the moderating influence of the
ocean, which keeps climates milder in winter and cooler
in summer.
• Regions of the Earth that have continental climates
include Siberia and central Russia, and much of
North America. Siberia, Canada and the northern
states of the US.
 POLAR
The polar regions are perpetually covered by snow and ice
throughout the year.
• In these high latitude regions of the world, the Sun is never high
enough in the sky to cause appreciable melting and the
temperature rarely rises above freezing.
• During the long polar nights, which last six months at the poles,
temperatures can fall to extremely low values.
• The lowest temperature ever recorded occurred in Antarctica,
where a value of -88°C was reported.
• Polar climates tend to be dry because the descending air is
cold and lacks significant moisture, precluding the formation of
clouds and snowfall. Some polar regions receive less than 10
inches or 250 millimetres of precipitation each year, and can be
as dry as the hot deserts of the subtropical climate zone.