Climate and vegetation around the world Flashcards
Explain the difference between climate and weather
Weather describes what the temperature, wind, rainfall and cloud cover are over a short period of time, eg 1-2 days.
Climate describes the weather over a long period of time, eg in summer or winter.
Provide 5 aspects of weather
- wind
- precipitation
- temperature
- cloud cover
- vegetation
5 key words to describe climate
- hot
- mild (warm or cool, no extremes of hot or cold)
- cold
- wet
- dry
The study of the atmosphere and people who does this study are known as
meteorology
meteorologists
Describe the difference in climate between the southern and northern hemisphere
South: summer in January and winter in July (eg Cape Town)
North: winter in Jan and summer in July (eg London)
Descriptions of temperature
Over 30 - very hot 20-30 - hot 10-20 - warm, 0-10 - cool -10-0 - cold less than -10 - very cold
Descriptions of rainfall
Over 2000 mm - very wet 1000-2000 - wet 500-1000 - moderately wet (eg Tsitsikamma forest) 250-500 - dry less than 250 - very dry (semi-desert)
How can human life be affected by climate. Name 2 examples.
1) activities
2) clothes, what to wear
Name 2 elements of the environment that are affected by climate
1) wildlife
2) vegetation
Describe tropical rainforests and where are they located?
Huge areas of tall trees and dense vegetation.
Between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. So it’s close to the Equator.
Describe the climate of rainforests.
Hot and wet all year round. Heavy rainfall, daily thunderstorms.
What is a climate graph?
A graph showing the average temperature and rainfall of a place for every month of the year.
What is the 2 most important parts of climate?
1) rainfall
2) temperature
Describe vegetation in rainforests.
Lots of plants grow there. More than 1000 different trees.
The trees are evergreen. Many grow to the same height and form a canopy over the forest. The canopy provides shade for shorter trees and block heavy rainfall.
The trees have adapted to survive in the high temperature, high rainfall and the light conditions in the forest.
Some leaves of shrubs are arranged to catch water, others have drip tips to get rid of water so they don’t rot.
Some plants grow high to reach the light. They get food from the tree, not the soil.
Forest floor consists of dead leaves and soil.
If forests are removed, soil is of poor quality.
How would you describe the wildlife in a tropical forest?
Many animals live there, because it is warm all year and there is plenty of water.
Birds, insects and animals can feed of the fruit and berries of plants.
There are also predators - animals that hunt and eat their prey.
Insects are the largest group of animals.
Animals have special adaptations to survive in the rainforest, eg
- cope with the heat
- eat certain kinds of food that others cannot
- hide from predators
- sneak up on prey
- move through the trees