GEOG 2RC3 Lecture 2: Module 2

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Geography
• Course: GEOG 2RC3
• Professor: John Maclachlan

Document Summary

Climate: the long-term behaviour of weather in a bounded area, usually averaged over decades or centuries. Weather: the short-term, fluctuating behaviour of precipitation, cloud cover, temperature and wind, usually over timescales less than a year. Interaction of these principal factors leads to the many different climates experienced around the world. Since canada has such diverse regional landscapes, it is no surprise that it contains a wide variety of climate regions. The pacific region has a marine climate influenced by the pacific ocean, with warm summers and cool winters. It has a seasonal variation in temperature with a wetter winter season, and is dominated by a type of precipitation known as orographic due to the lifting of moist air over a mountain barrier. The higher elevation of the pacific cordillera causes the average temperature to be lower, with higher levels of precipitation on the leeward side of the mountains (see orographic precipitation).