This provides a better spatial representation of weather and climate data across the region. Another way take into account changes in topography is by using anomalies. Temperature anomalies change less over a distance than the absolute temperature, regardless of topography. For example, a summer month for a climate division may be cooler than average, both at a nearby mountain peak and in the valley below, even though the absolute temperatures may be quite different at the two locations.
We then aggregate the anomalies over a spatial area to get a better representation of the climate conditions for a region and then use a baseline value, like the normals, to get the absolute values for a the entire climate division. This strong relationship between relative temperatures from place to place becomes even stronger when we average over months and seasons: it is exceedingly rare for a high-elevation location to have a cold month while a neighboring low-elevation has a warm month, and vice versa.
Understanding how topography impacts local climate helps people make more informed decisions. Thinking back to the example of the water storage reservoir and winery location, would you want these investments located on the side of the mountain that faces the prevailing wind or on the drier side of the mountain? How about in a valley or on top of a mountain? Climate scientists spend a great deal of effort to understand how the climate is changing and how modes of climate variability like El Nino will impact future temperature and precipitation.
But before we take on those complex phenomena, we must make sure we account for the way non-atmospheric features like topography affect local weather and climate. Rain shadows on the summit of Hawaii.
Flooding in Chile's Atacama Desert after year's worth of rain in one day. Mouse over tabs below the map to change views. The highs and lows of climate.
Mountain air becoming less brisk, more high-elevation observations needed. California Facing Worst Drought on Record. The Mountain Environment by Mandy Barrow. Mountain weather conditions can change dramatically from one hour to the next. For example, in just a few minutes a thunder storm can roll in when the sky was perfectly clear, and in just a few hours the temperatures can drop from extremely hot temperatures to temperatures that are below freezing. They receive more rainfall than low lying areas because the temperature on top of mountains is lower than the temperature at sea level.
Winds carry moist air over the land. When air reaches the mountain, it rises because the mountains are in the way. As the air rises, it cools, and because cool air can carry less moisture than warm air, there is usually precipitation rain. No, the climate on a mountain varies depending on what altitude how high you are up a mountain. At the foothills near the bottom there may be a tropical climate, whilst the peaks the very top of mountains may be covered in ice.
The uppermost level of mountains is often bare rock and snow. Tibet and the Himalayas and other mountain ranges such as the Rocky Mountains or the Andes are good examples of this.
You can often see snow on the top of mountains all year round, because the temperature at the top of mountains is lower than at the bottom. The higher the place is above sea level the colder it will be.
Some mountains reach higher than the clouds. At this altitude the extreme cold and high winds cause blizzards. Generally the climate on mountains get progressively colder with increased altitude the higher up you go. Their inaccessibility has spared mountains somewhat from human encroachment and agricultural development, making them remote biological hotspots — diverse hubs of flora and fauna.
Found at high elevations in mountainous regions, cloud forests catch rainfall and fogs that increase and regulate stream flows. Without healthy cloud forests, this water would likely return to the atmosphere without reaching rivers — which ultimately flow to hydropower dams downstream. Healthy cloud forests also limit the amount of sediment flowing into the water, prolonging the life of dams and improving their economic performance.
Without the unique montane climate and other conditions made possible by cloud forests, none of this filtration and regulation of fresh water would be possible.
But this livelihood is in peril — thanks to deforestation and climate change, Indonesia may soon face less rainfall and drier conditions unsuitable for coffee crops. Despite these predicted ill effects on our coffee supply, all is not lost: Conservation International and others are working to improve agricultural practices and protect forests in order to make coffee a more resilient — and sustainable — crop.
Higher ground is a finite resource, a fact that potato farmers in Peru and other Andean countries know all too well. Normally grown at high altitudes, the potatoes of these montane areas are central to the Andean culture and diet.
Potatoes originated in Peru, fed the Incan empire, and over the course of 8, years have morphed into 2, different varieties. But during the past three decades, these potato farmers have slowly moved their crop to higher elevations in order to escape agricultural diseases and pests brought on by rising temperatures. Ancient potato farming techniques involve planting a range of potato varieties across a large stretch of land to minimize risk of crop failure.
Modern monoculture farming practices can allow for crop growth in warmer climates through the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers; however, these chemicals present risks to human health and threaten the genetic diversity of potatoes.
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