How does the shape of land affect climate in the Polar Region?
81160
Just compare the North Pole and the South Pole. The South pole is on a continent that is mainly a high plateau (and has a higher average elevation than any other continent). The North Pole has a few islands close by, but is mainly sea ice and polynas. The South Pole as a result is markedly colder and drier than the North Pole. The topography at the South pole also creates much stronger winds due to orographic effects.
1110242
An excellent question!\n\nSince there are no boundries in the polar regions — the Arctic is ocean and the continent of Antarctica has no nations - time zone lines follow longitude lines in these places. \n\nSince all longitude lines come together at the poles, you can walk through all of the time zones in seconds by walking around the pole that marks the South Pole. Imagine walking around the pole in the photo above on this page. \n\nThere's no North Pole pole since drifting sea ice covers the location and anything put there, such as an automated weather station, drifts away. Our story about the Christmas Day North Pole temperature has more on this. \n\nAs a practical matter, having all of the time zones means there is really no time zone for the polar regions. In Antarctica, the U.S. stations uses New Zealand time because most Americans who go to Antarctica for the U.S. Antarctic Program fly to and from there via Christchurch. \n\nOnce you arrive in New Zealand for the U.S. Antarctic Program, you could fly to Antarctica, everywhere that a U.S. airplane could take you on the continent, and back to Christchurch without ever having to change the time on your watch. \n\nSince the only station at the South Pole is the U.S. station, the time used there is New Zealand time.\n\nOther nations tend to use their home time zones in Antarctica, which makes radio and e-mail contacts simpler. \n\nThe permanent research stations in the Arctic are in countries, such as the Barrow Science Center in Barrow, Alaska, and these use the local time. When researchers venture out onto the Arctic Ocean ice, they can use any time the wish. But, in most cases it's probably easier to use the time for the institution, such as a university, that you are working for. \n\nYou can learn a lot more about what goes on in the polar regions by going to our Science, life and travel in the polar regions page
532804
The Arctic and Antarctic are literally poles apart. While they share some characteristics, such as high latitude, cold and remoteness, they also exhibit significant differences. The Arctic is dominated by a large deep central ocean surrounded by land masses. The Antarctic is a large, partially ice-covered land mass surrounded by ocean. \n\nEnvironmental Differences: \nThe Arctic has trees but Antarctic does not\nAntarctica is a continent land mass but the Arctic is a sea with edges of other countries in the Arctic circle.. \nThe Arctic has indigenous people and the Antarctic doesn't. \nThe Arctic has tundra but not the Antarctic\n\nWeather differences: \nAntarctic has strong winds but the Arctic has mild winds. \nAntarctica is colder and windier than the Arctic\n\nAnimal and Plant Life differences: \nThe Arctic has polar bears and the Antarctic does not. \nThe Antarctic has penguins and the Arctic doesn't. \nThe Antarctic has no trees. \nThe Arctic has Tundra with rich plant life in Spring and Summer. \nAntarctic has algae but not the Arctic. \nAntarctica has mainly calm animals but the Arctic has some fierce ones\n\n\nHuman Activity Differences: \nThe Arctic has Eskimos and Antarctica does not. \nThe Arctic has igloos and Antarctica does not. \nLong ago, Laps and Eskimos used the northern polar region but nobody lived in the southern polar region. \nThere are towns in the Arctic but not in Antarctica - just research bases. \nAntarctica wasn`t found for a long time when the Arctic was already found. \nWhen the sea is free from the ice in summer in the Arctic the hunter goes after seals.
147828
High and low pressure regions result from uneven heating of the surface and the movement of air masses.\n\nAreas of low pressure occur where air is being displaced upwards either due to convection or the movement of a front (usually a cold front). This usually results in unstable air, clouds, and rain. Wind circulates counter-clockwise around low-pressure centers in the northern hemisphere. \n\nAreas of high pressure occur where air is sinking - if you are in a high pressure zone where the air column is stable you experience clear skies.\n\nAlso there are regions around the United states that experience persistent highs or persistent lows - places where these pressure conditions are almost always present.
1152346
It has EVERYTHING to do with climate, season, winds, etc.\n\nThe Coriolis effect, which results from the Earth’s rotation, plays an important role in large-scale circulation of the atmosphere. As viewed by an observer on Earth, air appears to be deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. This results in areas of low pressure rotating counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern hemisphere, with the opposite being true for areas of high pressure. If the Earth’s rotation were to suddenly reverse itself, these patterns would also be reversed. The westerlies would become easterlies and the northeast trades would blow from the northwest. \n\nChanges in the Earth’s rotation would have an effect on ocean currents, which can influence local climates. The El Niño and La Niña phenomena that affect global climate patterns on a periodic basis. \n\nOne large component of a location’s climate that would not likely be affected would be the effect of seasons, which are more dependent on the tilt of the Earth’s axis than they are on the Earth’s rotation.
920554
That would be a cold (or at least cool), dry mass of air that originated over a large region of land near the north pole.  (Not over an ocean, unless it was the Arctic Ocean, which is covered by ice.)
73207
A typical body of water absorbs and releases heat slower than the surface of the earth. That means that if it is hot for many days and then suddenly gets cold, the water will retain the heat longer then the land and the climate will be milder than if there was no water.\n\nThis effect can last for a long time around some bodies of water. For instance the water can retain some of the heat from the summer well into the fall. Of course the flip side is true as well, the water will be cool during the summer. \n\nThe result of all of this is to smooth over rapid ups and down in daily temperature when there is a large body of water near by - and therefore a generally milder climate.\n\n\nAlso important in some areas are ocean currents. Western Europe is kept relatively warm because of the Gulf Stream which brings warm water from near the equator to that region. If the Gulf Stream was ever disrupted, western Europe would generally be colder.
651288
There is little precipitation at the Antarctica because of the low temperatures. Cold air does not hold as much moisture as hot air. In the winter for exsample the humidity is lower than in the summer ( humidity is scale of how much moisture is in the air). Moisture in the air rises and settles in the clouds to produce snow or rain. When the temperature stays as cold as in does in Antarctica little moisture is present to create snow or rain. The snow that is on the ground in pictures and movies that you may see has been there for sometime. There is stays so cold that when snow does fall it takes it a long time to melt. I hope this was helpful.
1049410
Antarctic.\nthe earth spins around the sun in an ellipse when the artic has its coldest point the earth is closer to the sun in comparison to when the antartic is the coldest
92893
You need to concentrate your answer in the following areas:\n\n1) The effect of oceanic circulation.\n2) The role of water vapour as a greenhouse gas.\n3) The role of water as ice and cloud in increasing albedo\n4) The role of water in oxygen production, and hence the effect of oxygen on climte.\n5) The effect of life on albedo.\n6) The role of oceans as heat sinks and atmospheric buffers.\n\n\nWater also has a lot of small scale effects on climate of course, but I'm assuming you really do mean global climate.\n\n\n\n>>>>> countries which are surroended by large bodies\n>>>>> of water have more amount of rainfall than those \n>>>>> countries who are surrounded by land.\n\nNot at all. Australia and the Galapagos islands for example are surrounded by large bodies of water and both are primarily desert. Likewise Antarctica is surrounded by large bodies of water and is the driest place in Earth.\n\nIn contrast Switzerland and Paraguay are both completely landlocked countries that recieve large amounts of rainfall.\n\nWhile it is very broadly true that rainfall decreases with distance from the coastline there is ismply no way to extend this to making comparisons between countries or regions. Many coastal regions are far drier than many central continental regions. Ther are just  too many factors at play to make generlistaions about the effects of oceans on rainfall.
61737
Weather.com is a really good site(I use it too)\n\nWeather is an all-encompassing term used to describe all of the many and varied phenomena that can occur in the atmosphere of a planet. The term is normally taken to mean the activity of these phenomena over short periods of time, usually no more than a few days in length. Average atmospheric conditions over significantly longer periods are known as climate. Usage of the two terms often overlaps and the concepts are obviously very closely related.\n\nWeather is driven by the different amounts of energy received from the Sun on different parts of the planet. Because of a planet's curvature, sunlight is incident at different angles at different latitudes (higher latitude -> lower angle of incidence -> less heating). Different types of surface (e.g. ocean, forest, ice) have different properties of reflectivity (albedo) and absorb differing amounts of energy. It is mainly due to these two factors that the surface is heated to different extents.\n\nThese surface temperature differences cause vertical wind currents as the hot surface heats the air directly above it. This hot air expands and rises lowering the air pressure and drawing colder air into its place, which is in turn heated and rises and so on. When the hot air later cools it shrinks and sinks lower, increasing air pressure and displacing the air already below it. Horizontal wind currents are formed at the boundaries between differentially heated areas and can be exacerbated by the presence of sloped surfaces. The simple systems thus formed can then display emergent behaviour to produce more complex systems and thus all other weather phenomena. A large scale example of this process can be seen in the Hadley cell and other forms of atmospheric circulation, a smaller scale example would be coastal breezes.\n\nThe only two fundamental causes of weather are thus surface temperature, and to a lesser extent, elevation.\n\nAny precession in a planet's orbit will affect the amount of energy received at a particular spot throughout the year. This effect causes seasons and may influence long term weather patterns.
247508
Substantial reductions of up to 70% in the ozone column observed in the austral (i.e., southern hemispheric) spring over Antarctica and first reported in 1985 (Farman et al 1985) are continuing [2]. Through the 1990's, total column ozone in September and October have continued to be 40-50% lower than pre-ozone-hole values. In the arctic, declines are greatest in winter/spring and the amount is more variable year-to-year than in the Antarctic: when the stratosphere is colder the losses are greater, up to 30%.\n\nThe importance of the reaction on polar stratospheric cloud is many-fold. The PSCs only form in extreme cold; the Antarctic stratosphere is colder than the Arctic; which is why ozone holes first formed over Antarctica and why the Arctic ones are not as deep. The original predictions failed to take PSCs into account, which is why a sudden Antarctic ozone hole, rather than gradual global depletion, was such a surprise.
593456
It's high in latitude where plant & vegitation growth are very limited due to cold climate\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra
509539
Climate & erosion can effect mountain formation & evolution.\n\nFormation\nThe climate will determine the types of rocks that exist before & during the formation of a mountain. Chemical & mechanical weathering changes pre-existing rocks. The actual orogeny will determine the final outcome of the rocks as they are usually metamorphosed during this time. Depending on the final type of rock formed, rates of erosion may increase or decrease. Some rocks are more resistant to erosion than other such as silicon dioxide.\n\nEvolution\nAs the mountains form, climate plays a role in the erosional process. Wetter climates tend to have more erosion by water. In drier climates wind will determine the amount of erosion. Climate determines how fast or slowly rocks will erode.\n\nAs mountains erode, they will readjust in height in a process called isostatic adjustment. Mountains have "roots" that reach deep in the earth. The earth's crust is much thicker here versus other parts of the continental crust.\n\nWhen you take the weight off by erosion, the mountain rises slightly therefore will not change in height. This is much like stacking several wooden blocks in a pail of water. When you take one block off the rest will rise in response.\n\nHowever, time & rates of erosion will determine the ultimate fate of a mountain. At some point, the mountain will eventually rise to it's capacity. When it has reached this limit, it is possible for the mountain to erode to the surface.
924420
Depends on where you live.  In the polar regions, it snows alla time, it never rains.
141597
If there was no sunshine and no vertical air motion, cold air would settle to the surface, and temperature would increase going up in the atmosphere (and we'd all be dead soon ;) ). Because the ground is always radiating away heat (though often receiving more during daytime from the sun), there is a tendency for that to occur. Note the polar regions for example - during winter there is a semi-permanent temperature inversion (increase of temperature with altitude).\n\n2 things which counter the tendency for inversion are solar heating and vertical air motion.\n\nSunshine heats the ground, heat is conducted to air directly above the ground, and convection transports it up into the atmosphere. Cooling/heating of air by radiation is a slower process, so heat builds as spring and summer progress (at mid & high latitiudes) - especially in the lower atmosphere.\n\nAir moving vertically in the atmosphere (up or down) does so at the adiabatic lapse rate, which is 10 °C per km for dry air and less for saturated air (varies depending with temperature - averages about 6-7°C per km). Rising air cools at that rate, and subsiding air heats at the rate. Thus vertical air motions act to heat the lower atmosphere and cool the higher.\n\nThe combined effect of those, as a few people mentioned, is that temperature on the average decreases with altitude in the troposphere - at a rate of 6.5 °C per km (3.6 °F per 1000 ft.). Yet the lapse rate varies depending on conditions. Air during a clear night normally increases directly above the surface, strong inversions may occur during winter and ahead of warm fronts, and air can decrease at the dry adiabatic rate or briefly greater during a warm, sunny spring day. Etc.
145957
Climate may be a factor in the success of a country.  The mid-latitudes tend to have moderate temperatures and well defined growing seasons thus allowing for good agriculture and  livestock conditions.  These provide a reliable food source which can support a larger population.\n\nNorthern and Southern latitudes have very long and cold winters which are not conducive to agriculture although there are some livestock that can handle these conditions (carribou, yaks, etc.)  Converely, the more equatorial latitudes have high temperatures.  Depending on the humidity of the region, this can lead to either desert or jungle conditions.  Deserts are very difficult to grow in due to lack of moisture whereas with jungles, controlling the natural vegetation and keeping it from invading agriculture fields is a near impossible task.  In addition, the tropics have many diseases the thrive in that environment leading to a higher mortality rate.