What are some of the temperature variations on Earth?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: The most important factor influencing the temperature of the Earth's surface is energy input, in the form of radiation from the Sun The amount of heat stored in water and proximity to the oceans also affects temperature. Generally, low latitudes have higher temperatures and continental locations have larger ranges of temperature.

First, on average, the highest temperatures are found in low latitudes, because the Sun is highest in the sky in these areas, and therefore the intensity of solar radiation is highest. High solar elevation angles occur throughout the year, and this makes the tropics consistently warm.

Secondly, continental interiors have larger temperature ranges. Large landmasses in high latitudes, such as North America and Asia have very large temperature differences between January and July, sometimes as high as 90 degrees. In contrast, the temperatures differences between June and January in the Aleutian Islands of the north Pacific, at about the same latitude as Siberia, is only about 18°F. The climates of areas near the ocean compared with the climatic extremes of middle of continental regions are a result of this heat storage in water, and the advection of heat from ocean areas to adjacent land areas.