contains is released as rain. A cold front is the leading edge of an advancing
mass of cold air. Cold fronts are associated with thunderhead clouds, high
surface winds, and thunderstorms. After a cold front passes, the weather is
usually cool with clear skies.
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
The most important greenhouse gases are water vapor (H 2 O), carbon dioxide
(CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), and nitrous oxide (N 2 O). Without this effect, Earth
would be cold and inhospitable. If taken too far, Earth could evolve into a
hothouse.
HEAT (CONVECTION)
Climate is influenced by how heat energy is exchanged between air over the
oceans and the air over land.
HUMAN ACTIVITY
Climate can also be influenced by human activity. Deforestation, urbanization,
heat island effects, release of pollutants including greenhouse gases and the
burning of fossil fuels, and the production of acid rain are examples of how
humans have altered climatic patterns. Increased pollution alone, combined with
an increase in convectional uplift in urban areas, tends to increase the amount of
rainfall in urban areas as much as 10% when compared with undeveloped areas.
LAND CHANGES
Climate is influenced by urbanization and deforestation.
LANDMASS DISTRIBUTION
Materials absorb and reflect solar radiation to different extents. Ocean water is
much more absorbent than landmasses so that continents reflect a lot more solar
energy back into space than the oceans. Earth receives more solar radiation at
low latitudes (near the equator) than near the poles. An Earth with landmasses
clustered at low latitudes would reflect more solar energy into space, resulting in
a cooler planet than one with more equatorial ocean area. Approximately 600–