Chapter 17 Climate and Ocean

1. Chapter 17 Climate and Ocean

2. Section 17.1 What is the difference between weather and climate?

3. Section 17.1 • Weather is short-term and is influenced by humidity, temperature and wind velocity • Climate is long-term and is the average or prevailing pattern of weather over a large area.

4. Chapter 17.1 Ocean’s influence on weather and climate Ocean produces a variety of conditions from mild sea breezes to violent hurricanes

5. Chapter 17.1 The sun’s energy is called radiant energy. Different forms of sunlight include: Visible light Ultraviolet light Infrared light

6. Section 17.1 Because of the Earth’s curvature and tilt on it’s axis, the sun’s light does not hit the Earth’s surface evenly. This is called the angle of insolation • 23 ½ o tilt of the axis.

7. Angle of Insolation

8. Section 17.1 Sun hits the equator at a 90° angle As you move towards the poles, the angle decreases and becomes very acute at the poles

9. Section 17.1 How does that affect the temperature of the oceans at different latitudes? The equator is very warm and the poles very cold or completely frozen during the winter months.

10. Section 17.1

11. Section 17.1 What generalizations can you make about temperature and latitude? • The places that are the warmest are closest to the equator; places that receive direct rays.

12. Section 17.1 Burlington, NJ 40.8°N Because the Earth and the oceans heat unevenly, winds generally move toward the equator. Warm air rises and cool air sinks.

13. Section 17.1 The seasons are caused by the revolution of the Earth around the sun and the 23 ½ ° tilt of the Earth

15. What would happen if the Earth were not tilted 23 ½ degrees on its axis? • There would only be two seasons, spring and fall (if you were in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere). If you were at the equator, you would have summer year round.

16. Chapter 17.1 Water has higher specific heat than land Specific heat is the ability to store heat Because the land and the sea are unevenly heated, land and sea breezes occur.

17. Types of Local Winds • Land Breeze • Land cools down quickly. Cool air over land causes High pressure. Usually occurs at night

18. Types of Local Winds • Sea Breeze • In the day time, land heats more quickly than water. Rising, warmer air over land causes Low pressure.

19. Land Breeze: cool breeze that flows from the land to the sea (during the summer night) • Sea Breeze: cool breeze that flows from the sea to land (during the summer day) • Make sure you understand why this happens

20. Ocean’s Effects of Coastal Weather How does Earth’s specific heat influence weather? • Water has a specific heat about 3 times greater than that of land. • Summer- coastal cities cooler • Winter- coastal cities warmer

21. Chapter 17.2 Moisture in the Air Where does a majority of the humidity in the air come from? The oceans

22. Section 17.2 Moisture in the Air • The ocean not only affects air temperature, but also humidity – the amount of water in the air • Relative humidity is the amount of moisture in the air relative to the maximum amount it can hold at that temperature

23. Section 17.2 Moisture in the Air • The higher the temperature of the air, the more moisture it can hold • The air’s humidity can be measured by a sling psychrometer

24. Sling Psychrometer The temperature differences are then compared on a chart.

25. Section 17.2 • When humid air touches a cold surface, it condenses and turns into…… Dew • Warm Air that is saturated (think sticky-humid) w/moisture near the (cooler) ground is called…….Fog

26. Section 17.2 The temperature at which the air condenses as a cloud or fog is called the dew point.