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Canada’s Natural Systems

Explore the different aspects of weather and climate in Canada, including wind patterns and prevailing winds. Understand how air masses and jet streams affect the country's climate.

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Canada’s Natural Systems

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  1. Canada’s Natural Systems Climate

  2. Weather & Climate Weather: • Refers to thecurrent, day-to-day, short term conditionsof the atmosphere.

  3. Weather & Climate Weather: • Wind speed • Wind direction • Temperature • Type of precipitation • Amount of precipitation • Cloud cover • Humidity • Air pressure • Hours of sunshine.

  4. Weather & Climate Climate: • Refers to thelong term trends / patternsin the weather for a certain area. • Different areas experience different climate. • Monthly, seasonal, yearly.

  5. Climate OR Weather?? Do the following phrases refer to weather or climate? • Annual precipitation of 200 mm. • Rain forecasted for tomorrow Tuesday. • Normal July temperature averages 22˚ C • Temperatures this week will range between 20 & 30˚C

  6. Climate OR Weather?? Do the following phrases refer to weather or climate? • It was unusually hot this summer. • Grand Falls-Windsor had 15 cm of snow this past weekend. • Vancouver has an annual frost free period of 233 days. • Residents in Florida are preparing to take shelter from a hurricane.

  7. Uneven Distribution of Sun’s Energy

  8. Intensity and Duration!!

  9. Global Circulation Patterns and Prevailing Winds • Sun’s energy is unevenly distributed across the earth’s surface • This heat imbalance sets the atmosphere and the oceans in motion • 60% of the Sun’s heat energy is redistributed around the planet by Winds • 40% by Ocean currents • Places located away from large bodies of water have a continental climate (eg.. Swift Current, Saskatchewan) • Places located near the ocean have a maritime climate (eg.. Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia

  10. WINDS Understand the cause of wind and how they affect climate

  11. What is Wind? • A wind is a horizontal movement of air across a surface. • Vertical movements are currents or updrafts and downdrafts • Caused by what???? • Heat versus cold!!

  12. What causes wind? • Unequal heating • Unequal heating causes pressure differences • Cold, heavy air sinks = high pressure • Warm, expanding air rises = low pressure • Winds blow from high to low

  13. Know that air blows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. • The statement is fact. • Think: • Air inside a balloon • Exhaling • Air powered pellet gun • It is simply fact. • High and low pressures in the earth’s atmosphere are responsible for wind

  14. Wind: • is a horizontal movement of air across a surface. • It results from air masses of different temperatures and humidity lying next to each other. • The resulting pressure variation causes “wind” to blow from high pressure areas to low pressure areas. Prevailing Wind: • Is regular, predictable, normal wind direction for a given area or region. • Caused by global convection cells. • Named after the direction from which it comes

  15. Prevailing Winds

  16. Prevailing Winds

  17. North American Air Masses • Large volumes of air with similar temperature and moisture • Continental Arctic – comes from Northern Canada and is COLD and Dry • Maritime Tropical – comes from the Caribbean and is WARM and WET • Maritime Polar – comes from Atlantic Ocean and is COOL and WET • They affect climate in Atlantic Canada because they bring to the characteristics of that particular air mass (See handout # 62 and Map Page 38) Air Masses

  18. Cold and Warm Fronts • Leading edge of an air mass • Fronts, like air masses, bring the characteristics of the air mass that drives them and also sudden changes in weather • Atlantic Canada is mainly influenced by cold/dry air masses from north that meet warm/moist air masses from south • The point where the two air masses meet is called the front Front

  19. Given this classification system, what would be the classification for an air mass formed over the Gulf of Mexico? __________,formed over northern Canada? ___________.See Diagram Handout and Page 53 for air masses affecting Canada in Summer and Winter

  20. Movement of these air masses affects our climate in two ways • During summer, Canada is affected by the warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. This air mass pushes north giving us warm summer temperatures and precipitation. • During winter, air masses from Canada’s north dominate. The cold, dry air pushes south from the arctic

  21. Jet Stream • River of air moving from west to east at speeds between 300km\h – 400km\h at altitude between 8000 and 15000 feet. ( See Figure 4.11 and 4.14 page 54-55. • May move further north in summer bringing hot and humid conditions from the Gulf to Canada’s interior • May move further south in winter bringing bringing cold, dry air into Canada’s interior.

  22. Jet Streams

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