Question

How do wind, ocean currents, bodies of water, and elevation affect climate patterns

Answer 1

Wind patterns, ocean currents, proximity to large bodies of water (i.e. seas and oceans), and elevation all impact climate patterns through a variety of factors. These factors largely impact the flow of energy and heat from the sun across the Earth's surface through processes of convection. For example the "Jet Stream" in the United States is a wind pattern that carries air and weather patterns across the United States and its flow shifts directions depending on seasons. Another is the Gulf Stream which brings warm currents from the Caribbean and Central American up the American coast and out into the Atlantic ocean warming the temperatures of the coastal water ways and also impacting the climate of the land near it.