Ch.3 climate, enviroment, and resources

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World Geography
Chapter 3
Weather and Climate
The Big Idea
The sun, location, wind, water, and mountains affect weather and climate.
Main Ideas
• While weather is short term, climate is a region’s average weather over a long period.
• The amount of sun at a given location is affected by Earth’s tilt, movement, and shape.
• Wind and water move heat around Earth, affecting how warm or wet a place is.
• Mountains influence temperature and precipitation.
Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 1: While weather is short term, climate is a region’s average weather
over a long period.
Weather
• The short-term changes in the air for a given place and time
• Temperature and precipitation from hour to hour or day to day
• Weather is unpredictable
Climate
• A region’s average weather conditions over a long period
• The expected more predictable weather for a place based on data
and experience
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 2: The amount of sun at a given location is affected by Earth’s tilt,
movement, and shape.
Movement
• As Earth revolves
around the sun, the
part of Earth that is
tilted toward the
sun changes during
the year, thus
creating the
seasons.
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Shape
• Earth’s spherical shape
means that the sun’s
rays directly strike the
equator, but only
somewhat strike the
poles.
• The farther from the
equator, or the higher
the latitude, the colder
the climate.
Tilt
• The part of the Earth
tilted toward the sun
receives more solar
energy than the part
tilted away from the
sun.

World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 3: Wind and water move heat around Earth, affecting how warm or wet
a place is.
• Air and water warmed by the sun are constantly on the
move, making different areas of Earth warmer or
cooler.
• Wind, or the sideways movement of air, blows in great
streams around the planet.
• Prevailing winds are winds that blow in the same
direction over large areas of Earth
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Wind
• Weight of air
– Cold air is heavier than warm air.
– When air cools, it gets heavier and sinks.
– When air warms, it gets lighter and rises.
– As warm air rises, cooler air moves in to take its place, creating wind.
• The rising, sinking, and flowing of air creates Earth’s prevailing wind patterns.
– At the equator, hot air rises and flows toward the poles.
– At the poles, cold air sinks and flows toward the equator.
– Earth’s rotation causes prevailing winds to curve east or west.
• Prevailing winds can make a region warmer or colder and drier or wetter.
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Water and Wind
• Ocean currents—large streams of surface seawater driven by
winds—move heat around Earth.
– Carry warm or cool water to different areas
– Water’s temperature affects air temperature near it.
• Large bodies of water, such as an ocean or sea, also affect
climate.
–Water heats and cools more slowly than land does.
– Large bodies of water make the temperature of the land
nearby milder.
• The place where two air masses of different temperatures or
moisture content meet is a front.
– Can produce rain, snow, thunderstorms, and blizzards
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Storms
Thunderstorms
• Produce rain, lightning, and thunder
• Most common in spring and summer
Blizzards
• Produce strong winds and large amounts of snow
Tornadoes
• Small, rapidly twisting funnel of air that touches the ground
Hurricanes and Typhoons
• Large, rotating storms that form over tropical waters in the Atlantic Ocean
(hurricanes) or Pacific Ocean (typhoons).
• Produce drenching rains, strong winds, and storm surges
• Largest, most destructive storms
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 4: Mountains influence temperature and precipitation.
• Mountains can influence an area’s climate by affecting both
temperature and precipitation.
• Temperature decreases with elevation, the height on Earth’s
surface above sea level.
• Mountains also create wet and dry areas.
– Air blowing against mountains is forced to rise.
– As the air rises, it cools and precipitation falls.
–This effect produces a rain shadow, a dry area on the
mountainside facing away from the direction of the
wind.
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World Geography
Chapter 3
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World Geography
Chapter 3
World Climates
The Big Idea
Earth’s five major climate zones are identified by temperature, precipitation, and plant life.
Main Ideas
• Geographers use temperature, precipitation, and plant life to identify climate zones.
• Tropical climates are wet and warm, while dry climates receive little or no rain.
• Temperate climates have the most seasonal change.
• Polar climates are cold and dry, while highland climates change with elevation.
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 1: Geographers use temperature, precipitation, and plant life to identify
climate zones.
• Earth is divided into five general climate zones.
– Tropical—occur near the equator, in low latitudes
– Temperate—occur about halfway between the
equator and the poles, in the middle latitudes
– Polar—occur near the poles, in the high latitudes
– Dry—occurs at many different latitudes
– Highland—occurs at many different latitudes
• Geographers divide some climate zones into more
specific climate regions.
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 2: Tropical climates are wet and warm, while dry climates receive little or
no rain.
Humid Tropical Climate
• At the equator
• Warm, muggy and rainy year-round
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Tropical Savanna Climate
• North and south away from the equator
• Long, hot, dry season followed by short
periods of rain

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World Geography
Chapter 3
Climate Zones
Humid Tropical Climate Tropical Savannah

World Geography
Chapter 3
Dry Climates
Desert Climate
• Earth’s hottest and driest
climate
• Receive less than 10 inches
of rain a year
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Steppe Climate
• Often border deserts
• Receive slightly more rain than
deserts
• Short grasses are most common
plants, but shrubs and trees
grow along streams and rivers.

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World Geography
Chapter 3
Climate Zones
Dessert Climate Steppe Climate

World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 3: Temperate climates have the most seasonal change.
Temperate Climates
• Mild and tend to have four seasons
– Warm or hot summers
– Cool or cold winters
• Occur in the middle latitudes, the regions halfway between
the equator and the poles
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Temperate Climates
Mediterranean
• Sunny, pleasant climate occurring mainly in coastal areas
• Summers hot, dry, and sunny; winters mild and somewhat wet
Humid Subtropical
• Occurs along east coasts near the tropics
• Summers are hot and muggy; winters are mild
• Storms occur year-round.
Marine West Coast
• Occurs on west coasts where winds carry moisture in from the seas
• Mild temperatures year-round
Humid Continental
• Occurs closer to the poles, in the upper-middle latitudes
• Four distinct seasons Next
Previous

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World Geography
Chapter 3
Climate Zones
Marine West Coast Climate Mediterranean Climate

World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 4: Polar climates are cold and dry, while highland climates change with
elevation.
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Tundra Climate
• Coastal areas along the Arctic
Ocean
• Long, bitterly cold winters
• In some parts is permafrost, or
permanently frozen layers of soil
Ice Cap Climate
• North and South poles
• Temperature lows of more than -
120F
• Snow and ice remain year-round,
but little precipitation
Highland Climate
• Found on mountains
• Includes polar climates plus
others; several climates in one
• As you go up a mountain,
temperatures drop and plant life
grows sparser.
Subarctic Climate
• Occurs mainly in Northern
hemisphere south of Arctic Ocean
• Winters are long and bitterly cold;
summers short and cool
• Below freezing half the year

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World Geography
Chapter 3
Climate Zones
Subarctic Tundra

World Geography
Chapter 3
Natural Environments
The Big Idea
Plants, animals, and the environment, including soil, interact and affect one another.
Main Ideas
• The environment and life are interconnected and exist in a fragile balance.
• Soils play an important role in the environment.
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 1: The environment and life are interconnected and exist in a fragile
balance.
• Plants and animals live where they are suited to the environment,
or surroundings.
–Factors such as temperature, rainfall, and soil conditions
limit options of where they can live.
• Ecosystem—a group of plants and animals that depend on each
other for survival and the environment in which they live
– Formed from connections between living things and the
environment
– Changes to the environment can change ecosystems
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 2: Soils play an important role in the environment.
• Soils help determine what plants will grow and how
well.
• Fertile soils are rich in minerals can support abundant
life
• Soils can lose fertility in many ways.
–Erosion
–Planting the same crops over and over
• When soil becomes worn out, it cannot support as
many plants.
– Can lead to desertification, the spread of
desertlike conditions
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Natural Resources
The Big Idea
The sun, location, wind, water, and mountains affect weather and climate.
Main Ideas
• Earth provides valuable resources for our use.
• Energy resources provide fuel, heat, and electricity.
• Mineral resources include metals, rocks, and salt.
• Resources shape people’s lives and countries’ wealth.
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 1: Earth provides valuable resources for our use.
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Types of Natural
Resources
• Renewable
resources are
resources Earth
replaces naturally.
• Nonrenewable
resources are
resources that
cannot be replaced;
they will run out
one day.
Using Natural
Resources
• A natural resource is
any material in
nature that people
use and value.

World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 2: Energy resources provide fuel, heat, and electricity.
Nonrenewable Energy Resources
• Most energy we use comes from
fossil fuels, nonrenewable
resources that formed from the
remains of ancient plants and
animals.
- Coal
- Petroleum
- Natural gas
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Renewable Energy Resources
• Will not run out
• Generally better for the environment
• Hydroelectric power—the
production of electricity from
waterpower
• Wind is used to power wind turbines
that create electricity.
• Solar power and geothermal energy—
heat from within Earth—can heat
water for homes and be turned into
electricity

World Geography
Chapter 3
Nuclear Energy
• Obtained by splitting atoms
• Uses the metal uranium, so some consider it a
nonrenewable resource
• Produces dangerous wastes that must be stored for
thousands of years before they are safe
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World Geography
Chapter 3
Main Idea 4: Resources shape people’s lives and countries’ wealth.
• The natural resources available to people affect their lifestyles and needs.
– People in areas with many natural resources sometimes have
more choices on ways to dress, eat, live, travel, and entertain
themselves.
• Availability of natural resources affects countries’ economies.
– The many resources available in the United States have helped it
become one of the world’s wealthiest economies.
– Countries with few natural resources often have weak
economies.
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