Could you help me understand the following isotherms' diagrams and the related text?
It has been copied from the ncert. I am attaching the file. I know about the factors that affect the degree of temperature at different places on the earth's surface. What I don't get is
1) how are these lines bending towards north and towards south in January and July?
2) What exactly bending towards north and south mean?
Kindly explain citing examples of different ocean currents, land places etc.
Comments
1) why there is bend? This is due to difference in temperature between land mass and water bodies as we know that land's temp rises and falls easily as compared to water bodies.
In jan, a south bend over landmass seen, what does this mean? Temp of land on same latitude is not equal to temp of oceans on the same latitude. Reasons may be like warm Atlantic ocean due to warm currents. Had the temps been same, the line would have been straight. A southward bend means points with same temp on land is in lower latitudes as compared to points with same temp in oceans.
Now what happens when there is a northward bend in July? The conditions are reversed. Land temp is more than ocean along a latitude. This is the case in Northern hemisphere.
Why do you think there is very less bending in Southern Hemisphere? It is dominated by oceans and thus no question of temp diff.
2) Thus, what bends is isotherms.
sorry for not attaching the file by mistake. i am attaching it now so that the other users can see.