climate

    Cards (36)

    • Weather: day-to-day characteristics of temperature, rain, cloud cover, and wind.
    • Climate: long-term weather patterns
    • Six major factors that determine the climate that exists in any particular location: Latitude, ocean currents, wind, elevation, relief, and nearness to water.
    • Latitude: the distance north and south from the equator
    • Latitude determines if a region is hot or cold
    • Ocean currents: bring warm or cold water to new places
    • Air Mass: Large volume of air that takes on the climactic conditions of the areas in which it forms.
    • Elevation: refers to the height above sea level.
      The higher up you are the colder it feels, As air rises, the pressure decreases = air expands/cools
    • Relief: refers to the shape of the surface
      of the land (high/low)
    • natural vegetation: the plants that would grow in an area with no human interface
    • dry climate soils: soils that develop where calcification is the dominant soil-forming process
    • wet climate soils: soils that develop where leaching is the dominant soil-forming process
    • soil profile: the three different layers that exist in the soil beneath the surface of the ground. Each layer has a particular combination of physical, biological, an chemical characteristics.
    • annual temperature range: temperature of the warmest month subtracted from the coldest month
    • continental climate: climate in areas far away from bodies of water. Extreme temperatures and low precipitation <1000mm
    • Maritime climate: Climate in areas near large bodies of water. Mild winter/cool summers and high precipitation >1000mm
    • weather vs Climate: Weather is the day-to-day characteristics of temperature, rain, cloud cover, and wind while climate is the long-term weather patterns
    • if the ocean current is warm, it will heat the air; if it is cool then it will cool the air above
    • wind moves hot and cold "airmasses" to other places
    • if there was no wind the weather would not change
    • air moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure ( moving air = wind)
    • Wind belts: well-established patterns of low and high pressure areas
    • mountains act like a barrier to air masses
    • nearness to water: regions that are close to oceans and large lakes have different climate
    • in the summer water remains cooler than the land and when the wind blows, it brings cool air over the land.
    • in the winter water keeps its heat and when wind blows, it brings warm air over the land.
    • Topsoil: dark thick layer. Large quantity of nutrient-rich organic material.
    • subsoil: less fertile and contains less organic matter. Harder and more compact
    • parent material: starting point for most soil development. maybe mineral rock or organic material
    • calcification: when there is a dry climate, water-carrying dissolved minerals move upwards toward the soil. Water evaporated leaving behind mineral deposits
    • leaching: during a wet climate, water from excess rainfall moves downward through the soil removing all minerals.
    • Tundra: - second largest vegetation
    • Tundra
      • second largest vegetation region
      • located in Canada's artic
      • the surface is permanently frozen- permafrost
      • treeless because of low summer temperatures and short growing season
      • soil has low level of nutrients
    • Boreal and Taiga:
      • largest vegetation region
      • dominated by a sparely populated community of plants that survive cool short summers and long cold winters
      • most common coniferous trees. Evergreen is very shallow.
      • region is poorly drained
      • bigger trees more common in southern region eg. deciduous.
    • Mixed Forests:
      • has both coniferous and deciduous
      • pine and spruce are found in the same area as maple and oak.
      • transition zone
      • located southern East Canada like southern Ontario and quebec
      • has abundant and regular precipitation
      • humus from leaves creates fertile soil suitable for farming
    • Deciduous Forest:
      • located in southwestern Ontario
      • northern limit to many deciduous tree species
      • The area has been cleared for farming; only patches are left
      • hot summers, mild winters, and precipitation occur throughout the year.
      • soil content is fertile and ideal for farming.
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