Regional Climate (Some Notes)

What we call climate is how the weather will be for a long time in a certain place. A region's climate is affected by many factors that include latitude, elevation, and nearby geographic features.

•  Latitude is how far north or south a place is from the equator. At higher latitudes, sunlight is less direct, leading to cooler climates.
• Elevation is the height of a place above the sea level.
• Geographic features that influence climate are large bodies of water or mountain ranges.
  • Large bodies of water help to keep the air cooler during the summer and warmer during the winter. Water regulates temperature.
  • Mountain ranges can create a rain shadow, or an area with less rain, behind the range. Behind the mountain range, the weather is colder in the winter and warmer in the summer compared to the ocean side of the mountain.