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10.2 Water’s Influence on Weather and Climate

Here is a summary of what you will learn in this section:
• Water has a higher heat capacity than land or air. As a result, it heats up more slowly than land or air
does, but stays warm longer.
• Oceans and large lakes have a moderating effect on the air temperature of coastal areas, keeping
these areas warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than inland areas.
• The interaction of large water surfaces and the atmosphere above can produce severe storms.

If you look at Canada on a globe or world map and move your

finger along the 48th line of latitude, two places you touch are
Victoria, British Columbia, and Timmins, Ontario. Both are
located the same distance from the equator, yet their climates
are very different from each other. The average temperature of
Timmins ranges from 17°C in July to –18°C in January. That
of Victoria ranges from 16°C in July to 5°C in January.
Timmins receives an average of 313 cm of snow a year, while
Victoria receives only 26 cm of snow.
The main reason for this difference in climate is that
Victoria sits next to an enormous body of water, the Pacific
Ocean. Timmins is far from any ocean or big lake.

D10 Starting Point Skills P C

The Water Cycle and Weather

Look at the photographs in Figure 10.15. Discuss with a partner the role the
water cycle is playing in creating the weather shown in these scenes.

(a) (b)

Figure 10.15 What part does the water cycle play in creating the weather shown in photographs (a) and (b)?

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D11 During Reading

Main Idea or Supporting Detail?

Good readers have several strategies to help reread this information. Record “Important
them decide what is important in the text they Information” and “Supporting Details” in a
are reading and what is an interesting or T-chart.
supporting detail. Read the statements in the Also watch for “signal words” that tell you an
summary box at the start of section 10.2. Which important point is about to be made. Record
summary statement is talked about in the these signal words and phrases in your notes on
information on page 290? Use the key words in your T-chart. Then read further to add more of
this summary statement to help you as you these words and phrases to your list.

Large bodies of water have a moderating effect on

atmospheric temperatures and therefore on the climate of the
nearby region. This means that the large surface area of the
water keeps the region from experiencing very high
temperatures in the summer or very low temperatures in the
winter compared to areas farther inland.

How Water Moderates Air Temperature

As you may recall from previous studies, Earth is surrounded
by an atmosphere made up of a mixture of gases, including
water vapour. This atmospheric layer extends for many
kilometres above the planet. Heat from the Sun passes through
the atmosphere, reaching Earth’s surface (Figure 10.16). The
amount of energy absorbed at any location depends on what is
at the surface.

Heat Capacity Figure 10.16 Sun’s energy reaching

Earth’s surface
If you have ever swum or dipped your toe into a lake or unheated
pool after dark on a summer night, you know how warm the
water feels compared to the surrounding air. The reason for this
difference is that water has a higher heat capacity than either the
air or the land. Heat capacity refers to the ability of a material to
absorb heat. When testing a material’s heat capacity, scientists
measure how long the material takes to heat up (absorb heat) and
cool down (release heat).

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Suggested Activity • Moderation in Action

D14 Inquiry Activity on page 296
Water takes longer than air or land to absorb heat, but it can
hold the heat it absorbs longer. In a large water body such as
an ocean or lake, this results in an enormous amount of heat
being constantly absorbed and released into the atmosphere
above it. This moderates the nearby area in two ways.
During the day and in the summer, the land gets hotter
than the nearby water does. When the warm air rises, the
cooler air from the ocean or a large lake blows in to replace the
rising air. The coast area thus maintains a lower temperature
than areas farther inland do (Figure 10.17, top).
The opposite happens at night and in the winter. The air
over the land cools faster than the air over the water. The
warmth from the ocean or lake provides heat to the cooler land
(Figure 10.17, bottom).

The land absorbs heat from the

Sun more quickly than the water
does. The air over the land
becomes warmer as some of
this absorbed heat is radiated
back into the air. The warmer air
begins to rise, and the cooler air
over the water moves in to take
its place.

As the Sun goes down, the land

cools off quickly, but the water
does not. The water radiates
some of its stored heat into the
air, and this warmed air begins
to rise. The cooled air over the
land moves in to take the place
of the rising warm air over the
water.

Figure 10.17 How a large body of water moderates air temperature on land

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D12 Learning Checkpoint

Water’s Heat Capacity

1. (a) How does a large body of water such (b) How does it affect the climate during
as Lake Superior affect the climate of the daytime?
the surrounding land during the
2. Why does water heat up more slowly than
nighttime?
soil does?

Water Bodies and Regional Climate

In every part of the world, the presence of large water bodies is
a major contributor to climate differences experienced from
region to region.
The Great Lakes are also notable for the strong moderating
effect they have on the climate of the areas that border them.
Their extensive water masses keep both summer and winter
temperatures moderate. They also provide large amounts of
moisture to the air. In the winter, this moisture eventually falls
as snow. The heaviest snowfalls anywhere in Ontario occur in
the stretch of land that extends east from Lake Huron and up
to Georgian Bay.

Microclimates
Farmers living close to the Great Lakes typically enjoy a much
longer frost-free period than farmers living elsewhere in
Ontario. The warmer air from the lakes keeps nighttime
temperatures on the shore above freezing longer into the fall
than in areas further inland.
The Great Lakes are responsible for contributing to small
pockets of microclimates in the surrounding regions. A
microclimate is an area with a small, localized climate
variation that differs from the larger climate area around it.
These differences in climate can occur over a very small scale.
Inside a greenhouse, for example, can be a microclimate that is
Figure 10.18 Even in the winter, a
much warmer and moister than the climate outside (Figure warm microclimate can be created
10.18). inside a greenhouse.

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Water Bodies and Global Climate

In the same way that water bodies affect climate at
a regional scale, so their influence is felt at the
much larger global scale.
You may have noticed when looking at a
Equator globe or map of the world that Earth’s
continents are not evenly distributed on both
hemispheres (Figure 10.19). The northern
hemisphere is 39 percent land and 61 percent
ocean. The southern hemisphere is 19 percent
land and 81 percent ocean.
Figure 10.19 The southern Because of the greater proportion of water surface south of
hemisphere has more water area
than the northern hemisphere does,
the equator, the moderating effect on that hemisphere’s climate
and this affects climates on a is notably greater than on the northern hemisphere’s climate.
global scale.
In the southern hemisphere, annual average temperatures vary
by only about 7.3°C from summer to winter. In the northern
hemisphere, they differ by about 14.3°C.

Coastal Storms
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated much of the
north-central coast of the Gulf of Mexico (Figure 10.20).
Dramatic weather events such as this occur when air moves
across large water bodies and picks up moisture and heat.
Hurricanes are a severe type of storm that starts out as a
thunderstorm over warm ocean waters. Its air mass begins to
swirl rapidly. For such a storm to be categorized as a hurricane,
its winds must reach speeds of at least 119 km/h. If the path of
a hurricane takes it over land, the result can be extensive
destruction and flooding.
Hurricanes and somewhat less severe storms are fairly
common in the Maritime provinces. Their after-effects can
sometimes be felt inland as far as Ontario. Rarely are they still
classified as hurricanes by the time they reach Ontario.
Hurricane Hazel was an exception. It hit the Toronto area in
Figure 10.20 New Orleans, in the October 1954, releasing 214 mm of rain over three days.
U.S. state of Louisiana, suffered the
worst damage of any city affected by
Extensive flash flooding resulted. More than 20 bridges in the
Hurricane Katrina in 2005. city were destroyed and 81 people were killed.

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The Great Lakes are well known for the winter storms they Take It Further
help create. Usually in the late fall each year, cold weather Since the mid-1800s, at least 25
systems sweeping down from Alberta reach the Great Lakes Great Lakes storms have been
severe enough to capsize boats
region at about the same time as storm systems moving up
and freighters and cause much
from the U.S. Midwest. As both of these systems pass over the loss of life. Learn more about the
lakes, the water and air interactions create high winds and long history of storms on the Great
Lakes. Begin your research at
large amounts of precipitation. ScienceSource.

D13 Quick Lab

Investigating Climate Data

As you read at the start of this section, the climate Questions
in Victoria, British Columbia, is moderated by the
Pacific Ocean. Timmins, Ontario, is located inland, 2. For each city, calculate the temperature
away from any large water body. difference between the coldest month and the
warmest month.
Purpose (a) Which city has fewer average temperature
To interpret what annual monthly temperatures extremes in a year?
indicate about climate (b) Explain your answer for (a).

Procedure 3. How do the average monthly temperatures in

Victoria influence the kinds of plants that can
1. Use the data in the following table for Timmins
live there?
and Victoria to answer the questions below.
4. In which season is there the greatest
Table 10.1 Average Monthly Temperatures (°C) for
difference in temperatures between the two
Timmins and Victoria
cities?
Month Timmins Victoria
5. How would your daily life be different if you
January –18 5
were living in Victoria in the season you
February –14 6 identified in question 4?
March –8 8
April 1 10
May 10 12
June 15 14
July 17 16
August 16 16
September 10 15
October 4 11
November –4 7
December –13 5

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