Temperature factors

1. Temperature factors Guidebooknumbers 29-39 Factors affecting the climate

2. Temperature factors • Latitude G33/34 • Altitude G84 • Distribution of land and sea G36-39

3. Latitude • How far away is a place from the equator? • Definition: the distance in degrees of a place from the equator • Places with a low latitude have a higher temperature than places with a high latitude

4. Latitude and temperature • When the sun shines vertically the heat is more intense, because it has to warm a small surface. • When the sun shines diagonally, the heat is less intense, because the heat is diverted over a bigger surface. diagonally high latitude vertically low latitude

5. Angle of the sun • The more diagonally the angle of the sun, the bigger the part that has to be warmed up.

6. Altitude • Places on a higher altitude are colder than places on a lower altitude. • Air is warmed up from the earth. • When you go 1000 metres up, the temperature goes 6˚C down.

7. Distribution of land and sea • Land warms up quickly and cools down quickly; water warms up slowly and cools down slowly.

8. Direction of the wind • Onshore winds: come from the sea and give a temperature moderation. • offshore winds: come from the land and give very high (summer) or very low (winter) temperatures.

9. Ocean currents • In the oceans there are warm and cold gulf streams, which make the temperature on land go up or go down.

10. Location of the mountains • A mountain range can stop (moisture) air and therefore cause a different climate on each side of the mountain range. • For example the Himalaya mountain range: on the southside the climate is very warm and moisture. The north side on the other hand is very dry and a lot cooler.