Physical Elements of Geography

Contents: Preface. 1. Elements of climate. 2. Solar energy and air temperature. 3. Winds and atmospheric pressure. 4. Atmospheric moisture and precipitation. 5. Air masses, fronts, and atmospheric disturbances. 6. The tropical humid climates (Group A). 7. The dry climates (B). 8. The subtropical climates (C). 9. The temperate climates (D). 10. The Boreal (E), Polar (F), and Highland climates. Index.

Climate, and also weather, relate to the earths atmosphere, which like a deep air ocean surrounds the central solid liquid sphere. This central sphere has a radius of about 4000 miles, but the atmospheric ocean is several times as deep. Correctly speaking, the real surface of the earth is at the outer limits of the atmosphere, so that life on the land surface actually lies deep within the planet and not on it. It is because air is so light and transparent that the land water surface is ordinarily referred to as the earths surface.

Living thousands of miles deep in the air ocean, in its densest part, man is a bottom crawling organism. As such he is greatly influenced by the character of the air above and around him and changes that take place in it. In fact among the elements that comprise the natural equipment of the earth (climate, wild vegetation, terrain features, minerals, water, soils, etc.) climate is the single most important one to man since it causes major variations in the productive potentialities of the earths regions of subcontinental size. Not only is climate in itself a major element of a regions natural equipment, but it also directly affects vegetation, soil, water resources, and drainage and to a degree, the nature of the surface landform. Thus large areas with similar climates are likely to have important resemblances in vegetation and soil.