How do terrain and climate interact?

Question

How does terrain affect climate? How do different terrains interact, in terms of location, like where they are located in terms of each other (relative locations). How do climate and terrain affect where people live? The climates and terrains I am specifically interested in are:

cold

temperate

warm

aquatic

desert

plains

forest

hills

mountains

marsh

underground

Answer 1

These are the things that affect climate:  Latitude, altitude (elevation), proximity to bodies of water (currents), and wind (fronts).

Cold climates (rugged or mountainous terrain)- high latitude and or high altitude, cold water currents and cold winds.

Temperate (coastal to mountainous terrain) - mid latitude, mid -high altitude, seasonal currents and seasonal wind pattern.

Warm ( coastal to high hills) - Low-mid latitude (subtropical- tropical), low-mid altitude, warm ocean currents, warm brisk winds.

Aquatic (I don't know of anyone living under water).

Desert (coastal/hills/mountains) mid latitudes, variety of altitudes, dry ocean currents, dry wind patterns.

Plains (flat to rolling hills) - mid latitudes, low altitudes, continental/interior location, seasonal fronts.

Forest (coastal to mountainous) - low-mid-high latitudes, varying altitudes, abundant rain, varying wind patterns.

Hills - low-mid-high latitudes, mid altitudes, wind and temperature varies depending on location on the hill.

Mountains (universal locations) - high latitude, high altitude, abundant rain on one side/semiarid to arid on the other side.

High latitude and altitude decrease temperature.

Low latitude and altitude increase temperature.

Warm ocean currents produce rain and warm temps. Moist unstable air.

Cold ocean currents produce less rain and cooler temps.  Cold dense slow-moving air.

Answer 2

along the pacific coast, are several elements.

--  wind blowing in from the pacific, having been over the ocean for several days, will have nearly 100% humidity, and approximately the same temperature as the water.  generally it's fairly cool, at least from mid calif northward.  so we get cool air blowing in from the ocean.

--  that wind keeps the coastal communities fairly cool in the summer (and comparitively warm in the winter).  and rather moist.  in fact, you might look up the olympic rain forest, the most northerly rainforest in the world.

--  as that wind blows over the hills that line the coast, the air thins, cools, forces moisture to be dropped.  as water is lost, the energy it transferred to the air, which warms.

--  on the inland side of the hills, the air temperature is 20-30 degrees warmer than it was before encountering the hills.  and much drier.

there's in interesting phenomena in calif.

http://www.leftcoastartists.com/Sandidge...

if you look at the pics, you can tell whether the artist in each case was facing east or west.  (i looked for photos, but this was the best i could find.)

Golden Hills Sonoma - east

the other four - west

how do we know that?

because of the hot dry summer, trees and bushes grow on the north sides, that get less sun.

on the south sides of hills, grass grows in the winter rain, and dies back in the summer.

so when you see hills with brown grass on one side and trees on the other, you know you're looking at a hot dry climate, that gets rain part of the year, and which sides are green indicates which direction is north.