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For example, with an axial tilt is 23°, and at a latitude of 45°, then the summer's peak sun angle is 68° (giving sin(68°) = 93% insolation at the surface), while winter's least sun angle is 22° (giving sin(22°) = 37% insolation at the surface). Thus, the greater the axial tilt, the stronger the seasons' variations at a given latitude.
The further north or south you are and closer to winter solstice, the more pronounced the effects of aspect of this are, and on steeper slopes the effect is greater, with no energy received on slopes with an angle greater than 22.5° at 40° north on December 22 (winter solstice).
This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientation of terrain features. Terrain affects surface water flow and distribution. Over a large area, it can affect weather and climate patterns. Bathymetry is the study of underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level.
Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically , which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and create clouds and, under the right conditions, precipitation .
It is the complement to the solar altitude or solar elevation, which is the altitude angle or elevation angle between the sun’s rays and a horizontal plane. [4] [5] At solar noon, the zenith angle is at a minimum and is equal to latitude minus solar declination angle. This is the basis by which ancient mariners navigated the oceans. [6]
The book explores the causes and manifestations of climate change, but also argues for ways to mitigate it and, in the meantime, adapt to it. “We are running out of time,” the book’s ...
The zero-elevation baseline or vertical datum to which a measurement of elevation or altitude is relative, e.g. the mean sea level calculated for a given location over a given period of time. [4] See also geodetic datum. de facto segregation The spatial and social separation of populations that occurs without legal sanction. [2] de jure segregation
World leaders are meeting in Paris this month in what amounts to a last-ditch effort to avert the worst ravages of climate change. Climatologists now say that the best case scenario — assuming immediate and dramatic emissions curbs — is that planetary surface temperatures will increase by at least 2 degrees Celsius in the coming decades.