Climate-forming factors - the conditions for the formation of a certain type of climate. These are reasons that affect air temperature, rainfall, and other important indicators. Consider the main climate-forming factors of Russia - the largest country in the world by area.
Solar radiation, latitude and other climate-forming factors
The star of our system is the main source of heat on Earth. Solar radiation and radiation levels are one of the most important causes of climate formation. Due to the sphericity of the planet, the angle of the rays is not the same at the equator, in the tropics and polar latitudes. But not only this condition determines what the air temperatures and seasons will be in a particular area. There are other main climate-forming factors:
- circulation of air masses;
- latitude of the terrain;
- relief features;
- the influence of the seas, oceans, the proximity of other continents.
Solar radiation
Not all the rays of our star reach the Earth’s surface, while the amount of incoming energy is determined by the location of the territory and depends on a number of other reasons. Part of the radiation (about 20%) is reflected by the upper atmosphere. About 30% is scattered by clouds, dust particles and water droplets. The sum consists of scattered and direct radiation reaching the hard shell of the planet. In this latter form, absorbed and reflected radiation is isolated.
Absorption depends on the specific heat and thermal conductivity of the underlying surface. Water has a large specific heat capacity, oceans and seas absorb 95% of direct radiation, gradually accumulate heat in the summer, and slowly give up in the winter. White snows, glaciers absorb about 15% and reflect 85% of the radiation reaching the surface. For chernozem, the reflection index is 4%.
Climate-forming factors are interrelated causes of climate formation. We give examples of the influence of other conditions on the radiation balance. So, in Russia, when moving from north to south, the total solar radiation decreases by about 2.7 times. On Sakhalin Island, located in the Sea of Okhotsk in eastern Russia, clouds reflect 70% of sunlight. As a result, a more severe climate is formed than at the same latitudes within the continent.
Atmospheric circulation
The main reasons for the formation and movement of huge accumulations of air are the uneven heating of the earth's surface by the Sun. This is one of the main conditions for creating different atmospheric pressure on the planet. The characteristics of air masses depend on the place of their formation, for example, sea air dominates over the oceans, it is moist, and dry continental over the mainland. Abbreviated letter designations for these two varieties are respectively M and K. When studying the climate-forming factors of Russia, they necessarily characterize the three main types of air masses - Arctic, temperate and tropical. They can be marine and continental. The following abbreviations are used: MAV, KAV, MUV, KUV, MTV, KTV.
The types of dominant air masses determine the most important features of climate and weather:
- Atmosphere pressure;
- temperature in the surface layer of the atmosphere;
- direction of constant winds;
- air transparency;
- humidity.
Air masses are able to transform, change their physical properties, moving above the surface of the Earth from one region to another.
Geographic latitude
The ratio between the receipt and expenditure of solar radiation - the radiation balance - is one of the main climate-forming factors. It affects the thermal regime of the soil and other surfaces, the lower layers of the atmosphere. Evaporation of water, the transformation of large masses of air, the life of man and plants depends on the radiation balance. But what is the main climate-forming factor? This geographical latitude is the distance from the equator to the studied area on the surface of the Earth.
In July, the angle between the rays and the earth's surface in the Northern tropical zone of illumination is almost 90 °. Then per unit area there is more energy, the land heats up more strongly, and from it the air. The farther from the equator and the tropics, the colder.
The influence of geographical latitude on the climate of Russia
Let us consider how the main climate-forming factor affects the example of the Russian Federation. The country extends from the icy Arctic to the subtropics of the Caucasus, from the Baltic coast to Chukotka and the seas of the Pacific Ocean. The climate changes significantly from north to south and from west to east. Temperate air predominates, often cold air masses from the Arctic invade, Siberian anticyclone, humid Atlantic air.
Great variety, but for Russia, the main climate-forming factor is the distance from the equator. When moving to the southern borders of the country, the magnitude of solar radiation increases. The closer to the Arctic Circle and the North Pole, the colder. Thus, the long-term weather regime in different regions of the country mainly depends on geographical latitude.
Relief, the influence of continents and oceans - climate-forming factors
The distribution of air temperatures is not always strictly subject to the law of latitudinal zonality and depends only on solar radiation. If you connect the cities of Russia with the same summer temperatures by lines, it is easy to notice that the July isotherms are located mainly according to geographical latitude. But in the European part of Russia, the January isotherms of 0, –8, –10 ° lie to the north than in Siberia. The climate of the territory to the Urals is softened by the influence of the Atlantic Ocean and its warm currents.
The meridianically located chain of the Ural Mountains traps the moist and warm air coming from the Atlantic. On the Pacific coast, the July isotherms are lower than at the same latitudes in the country, due to the influence of the summer monsoon and the prevalence of scattered radiation on Sakhalin Island. When climbing mountains, the temperature drops even at the same latitude.
Asian maximum (Siberian anticyclone)
From November to March, an area of high atmospheric pressure dominates over the territory of Mongolia. Air masses with low temperatures are formed from the CAV coming from the north. At this time of the year, the Pacific Ocean is almost not affected by the climate of the region. Mountains of southern and eastern Siberia prevent the spread of chilled air. The result is the lowest temperature in the surface layer of the atmosphere in Russia and throughout the Northern Hemisphere (from –40 to –70 ° ).
Temperature inversions are observed when cold air stagnates in the basins. Then at an altitude of about 2 km it is warmer by about + 10 ... + 20 ° C than in depressions and near the surface of the earth. Having ascertained what factors are climate-forming, we made sure that not only the reasons themselves are important, but also the combination of conditions in a certain territory.
Climate formation
There is more rainfall in the center and in the north of the European part of Russia than at the same latitude in Eastern Siberia. IUF from the Atlantic comes to the west of the country, cyclonic activity dominates here (low air temperatures, wet snow, showers). There is little rainfall beyond the Arctic Circle; the influence of CAV, poor in moisture, is felt. In Siberia and the Urals, the continental climate differs from the European regions of the country. Summer is relatively warm and short, winter is long, very cold.
In the south, in the Astrakhan region, such climate-forming factors have a significant impact: geographical latitude and the associated amount of solar radiation, atmospheric circulation. It is possible to note the influence on the climate and weather in the summer of dry and hot KTV, which comes from Kazakhstan, Central Asia. The receipt of the same air masses on the Black Sea coast of Russia is delayed by high mountain ranges.
The specific conditions of Kamchatka were formed in a combination of marine and sharply continental types of climate. The region is characterized by frequent weather changes, strong winds, significant rainfall, in winter - in the form of heavy snowfalls.
Climatic weapons
Finding out what climate-forming factors are, we focused on natural processes and phenomena. It is necessary to explain facts such as an increase in average annual air temperatures and uneven precipitation in recent decades. Is this a natural pattern or the result of anthropogenic climate change?
An unequivocal answer to this question is difficult to give. Disputes about whether climate weapons are used, whether they are created or are just being developed, do not subside. The issue was especially actively discussed during the extreme heat in Russia in the summer of 2010. The temperature in the central part of the country was 10 ° C higher than the regional average. The year was the hottest since the end of the 19th century. There were massive forest fires, there was a surge in mortality among the population.
Climatic weapons are ways to control the weather for military purposes. The enemy is damaged as a result of natural anomalies (droughts, floods). Scientists from the USA and the USSR began working on the creation of climate weapons in the middle of the last century. Such actions are contrary to the UN Convention prohibiting the military use of means of environmental impact. The US government denies any artificial impact on the atmosphere in order to harm other nations, people, and the environment.