Factors affecting
climate
Factors affecting climate tutorial
There
are many different factors that affect climate around the world. It is the
varying influence of these factors that lead to different parts of the
Earth experiencing differing climates. The most important natural factors
are:
It
is now widely accepted that human
activity is also affecting climate, and that the impact is
not the same everywhere. For example, changes appear to be happening faster
near the poles than in many other places. In this tutorial we will look at
some of these factors in more detail.
The
sea affects the climate of a place. Coastal areas are cooler and wetter than
inland areas. Clouds form when warm air from inland areas meets cool air from
the sea. The centre of continents are subject to a large range of
temperatures. In the summer, temperatures can be very hot and dry as
moisture from the sea evaporates before it reaches the centre of the land mass.
Ocean
currents
The
Gulf Stream is a warm ocean current in the North Atlantic flowing from the Gulf
of Mexico, northeast along the U.S coast, and from there to the British Isles.
The
Gulf of Mexico has higher air temperatures than Britain as it is closer to the
equator. This means that the air coming from the Gulf of Mexico to
Britain is also warm. However, the air is also quite moist as it travels
over the Atlantic Ocean. This is one reason why Britain often receives
wet weather.
The
Gulf Stream keeps the west coast of Europe free from ice in the winter and, in
the summer, warmer than other places of similar latitude.
Winds
that blow from the sea often bring rain to the coast and dry weather to inland
areas. Winds that blow to Britain from warm inland areas such as Africa
will be warm and dry. Winds that blow to Britain from inland areas such
as central Europe will be cold and dry in winter. Britain's prevailing
(i.e. most frequently experienced) winds come from a south westerly direction
over the Atlantic. These winds are cool in the summer, mild in the winter
and tend to bring wet weather.
Climate
can be affected by mountains. Mountains receive more rainfall than low lying
areas because as air is forced over the higher ground it cools, causing moist
air to condense and fall out as rainfall.
The
higher the place is above sea level the colder it will be. This happens
because as altitude increases, air becomes thinner and is less able to absorb
and retain heat. That is why you may see snow on the top of mountains all year
round.
The distance from
the equator affects the climate of a place. At the poles, energy from the sun
reaches the Earth's surface at lower angles and passes through a thicker layer
of atmosphere than at the equator. This means the climate is cooler further
from the Equator. The poles also experience the greatest difference between
summer and winter day lengths: in the summer there is a period when the sun
does not set at the poles; conversely the poles also experience a period of
total darkness during winter. In contrast, day length varies little at the
equator.
El
Niño,
which affects wind and rainfall patterns, has been blamed for droughts and
floods in countries around the Pacific Rim. El Niño refers
to the irregular warming of surface water in the Pacific. The warmer
water pumps energy and moisture into the atmosphere, altering global wind and
rainfall patterns. The phenomenon has caused tornadoes in Florida, smog in
Indonesia, and forest fires in Brazil.
El
Niño is
Spanish for 'the Boy Child' because it comes about the time of the celebration
of the birth of the Christ Child. The cold counterpart to El Niño is
known as La Niña, Spanish for 'the girl child', and it also brings
with it weather extremes.
The
factors above affect the climate naturally. However, we cannot forget the
influence of humans on our climate. Early on in human history our effect
on the climate would have been quite small. However, as populations
increased and trees were cut down in large numbers, so our influence on the
climate increased. Trees take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
A reduction in trees will therefore have increased the amount of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere.
The
Industrial Revolution, starting at the end of the 19th Century, has had a huge
effect on climate. The invention of the motor engine and the increased
burning of fossil fuels have increased the amount of carbon dioxide (a
greenhouse gas - more on that later) in the atmosphere. The number of
trees being cut down has also increased, reducing the amount of carbon
dioxide that is taken up by forests
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