Lesson 4.7 - Oceans and Climate

Climate is the average weather conditions for an area.  Edmonton can be described as having cold winters and hot summers.  Vancouver can be described as having mild winters, cool summers, and a lot of rain.  Vancouver receives more than twice as much precipitation in a year than Edmonton does.  What is responsible for these different climates?  You will learn how oceans affect climate in this lesson. 

Read How Oceans Help to Moderate Climates on page 97 in your textbook.

Question 1. What is the definition of climate?

Question 2. Vancouver and Calgary have very different climates.  Both cities are near mountains.  Is the closeness to mountains responsible for the climates of both cities?

Question 3. What does the term moderate mean when used in the context of moderating climate?

Question 4. How do oceans moderate the climate of a nearby area?

 

Check your answers with those that follow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers to Questions:

Question 1. What is the definition of climate?

Climate is the average weather conditions for an area.  Usually, it refers to the average weather over the course of a year based on long-term records.

Question 2. Vancouver and Calgary have very different climates.  Both cities are near mountains.  Is the closeness to mountains responsible for the climates of both cities?

No. Closeness to mountains cannot be the factor that is responsible for the different climates because both cities are near mountains.  If closeness to mountains was an important factor, these cities would have similar climates.

Question 3. What does the verb moderate mean when used in the context of moderating climate?

Moderate means that something prevents the climate from becoming too hot or too cold.  The ocean prevents nearby land from getting too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter; the ocean moderates Vancouver's climate.. 

Question 4. How do oceans moderate the climate of a nearby area?

Oceans store large quantities of heat.  The ocean warm up very little in the summer because much more heat is needed to warm the ocean than nearby land.  You saw this in the diagrams on pages 94 and 95.  The ocean temperature stayed at 18°C, but the land temperature changed from 28°C to 12°C.  The cool ocean tends to cool the air of nearby land on sunny days in the summer.  In the winter, the oceans transfer heat to the air and prevent the air from getting very cold.  The nearby land area has mild winters.


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