Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 9
Warming Up and Chilling
Out: Why Climates
Happen
In This Chapter
Feeling the heat
Tilting along
Changing seasons
Observing current affairs
H ave you ever felt people were staring at you in a discreet sort of way? I certainly have. And I can
give an example that relates directly to this chapter.
I was in a Swiss village on a sunny and warm July afternoon. The temperature was in the mid-eighties,
which is why I was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. I got on a cable car to go way up into the
mountains to take in the view and go for a hike. There were about 20 other people on board, and the
higher we went, the more I felt their eyes. So I looked back, and in so doing quickly understood their
stares.
Nobody else was dressed like me. Not even close. They had on heavy pants and heavy shirts, with
sweaters and jackets at the ready. And for good reason. When we got to the top and the doors opened,
a blast of cool air rushed in. I'm guessing the temperature was in the high forties. My first reaction
was to feel totally stupid. Like, duh, shouldn't a geographer have been prepared for this? My second
reaction was to cancel the hike and keep warm until the cable car made the return trip.
That brief journey began and ended on the side of the same mountain under the same sun. But
something happened to the air temperature that made all the difference in the world. The same is true
globally. You can travel the world and experience all kinds of climates. Together they constitute a vast
array of atmospheric characteristics that concern temperature, precipitation, and seasonal change. But
