Factors effecting Climate

Factors effecting Climate

1. Distance from the Sea

   • In oceanic areas, water has a high specific heat capacity so when it heats up it maintains this heat for a long time. In winter it remains relatively warm.
     • During summer, the sea only heats up slowly meaning it is colder than the land. This creates a maritime climate with a smaller temperature range.
   • Continental area warm up in summer and cool down quicker in winter than coastal areas because Land has a low specific heat capacity.
     • This creates a more extreme continental climate with a large annual range of temperature compared with coastal areas which have a maritime climate

2. North Atlantic Drift (Gulf Stream)

   • The relatively warm waters of the North Atlantic Drift are responsible for moderating the climate of western Europe
   • Without this steady stream of warmth the British Isles winters are estimated to be more than 5C cooler
   • The gulf stream/NA drift forms part of a thermohaline circulation which is driven by different densities in seawater

3. Ocean Currents

   • They transfer heat from the equator to the poles
   • The main currents follow circular routes (gyres)
   • Ocean currents rotate clockwise in the Northern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the Southern hemisphere
   • The warm currents flow along west side of the ocean and the cold currents flow along the east side of the ocean
   • Ocean currents are set by the prevailing winds blowing over the surface of the ocean.

4. Latitude

   • The angle of the sun
     • When the sun is overhead, insolation is stronger as the suns' rays are more concentrated
     • When the sun is more oblique, the temperatures are lower due weaker insolation e.g at the Poles
   • The length of daylight
     • In the tropics, the length of daylight is constant at 12 hours
     • At the Poles, no direct sunlight reaches them in the winter so there is almost 24 hours of darkness
       • Temperatures are reduce in winter due to the lack of insolation and daylight
       • In their summer, the have long days and short nights meaning relatively more direct heating

5. Planetary Surface Winds

   • Form when warm air rises (forms low pressure at the ITCZ). Cool air sinks (forms high pressure over the subtropical anticyclone) as they allow the sinking air to replace the rising air.
   • The surface winds are equalising the pressure difference

6. General Atmospheric Circulation

   • So that the equator and tropics do not become hotter and so the Poles do not get colder, heat energy must be redistributed. The Hadley, Ferrel and Polar cells redistribute heat energy.