Weather and Climate

Question 1

What is weather and what is climate?

Answer 1

Weather refers to short term atmospheric conditions while climate is the weather of a specific region averaged over a long period of time. Climate change refers to long-term changes.

Question 2

What is the climate zone tropical equatorial like?

Answer 2

It is when it is hot in the Summer and cold in the Winter. Countries include: Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, Indonesia and centre of Africa.

Question 3

What is the climate zone temperate maritime like?

Answer 3

It is when there are warm Summers and mild winters. It covers most of Europe and the south west of USA.

Question 4

What is the climate zone tundra like?

Answer 4

Cool summers and very cold winters. Very low precipitation. Countries include: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Siberia in Russia, Iceland, Greenland and north Canada.

Question 5

What is the climate zone continental interior like?

Answer 5

It is when it is hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Most rainfall is in the summer.
This climate is found in around half of Asia and South America and part of Africa in the south. Countries include: USA, Argentina, Brazil, India, Uraguay, Mexico, Russia and South Africa.

Question 6

What is the hot desert climate like?

Answer 6

Hot and dry all year round. Countries include: Australia, Egypt, Algeria,U.S, part of Chile, China, Turkey.

Question 7

What is the climate zone tropical grassland like?

Answer 7

Hot all year with a wet and dry season.

Location: Most of Africa. Countries include Brazil, Colombia, Australia. North of South America.

Question 8

What is the Mediterranean climate zone like?

Answer 8

Hot in the summer, mild in the winter. Most rain in Winter months. It covers the south of Europe and North of Africa. Countries include: Greece and Italy.

Question 9

What has latitude got to do with the climate varying around the world?

Answer 9

The temperatures are much warmer if you are close to the equator which would be a small latitude for example 10°N would be really hot because you would be close to the equator but if you were something like 65°S you wouldn’t experience too much hot weather.

Question 10

What has seasonality got to do with the climate varying around the world?

Answer 10

Places at higher latitudes have more of a seasonal change throughout the year. This is because the earth is tilted at 23.50°. In June the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun which means it is in summer. At this point the north pole has 24hour light and in the UK the days are long.

Question 11

What has altitude got to do with climate varying around the world?

Answer 11

Places at a higher altitude have colder temperatures. Temperature usually decreases by 1°C for every 100 metres in altitude. Air is mainly heated when sunlight heats up land, which then heats the air above it. The further you are away from land, the less warming the air receives.
Also, at higher altitudes the air is under less pressure which means heat is less well maintained and escapes easily.

Question 12

What has ocean currents got to do with climate varing around the world?

Answer 12

As ocean currents are moving south or northwards, they carry with them cool or warm water over a large distance. It is the water that affects the air, by warming or cooling it, which is transferred by the same effect to the land over which it blows.

Question 13

What has types of wind got to do with the climate varing around the world?

Answer 13

The prevailing wind is the most frequent wind direction a location experiences. In Britain the prevailing wind is from the south west, which brings warm, moist air from the Atlantic Ocean. This contributes to the frequent rainfall. When prevailing winds blow over land areas, it can contribute to creating desert climates.

Question 14

What do climate graphs show?

Answer 14

A climate graph shows the annual variation of temperature and precipitation for a given location for a month. The red line always represents temperature and the blue bars always represent precipitation.

Question 15

What must you need for a climate graph?

Answer 15

• Title (with the location)
• Months
• Rainfall
• Temperature
• Average rainfall (mm)
• Average temperature (°C)

Question 16

How could you compare climate graphs?

Answer 16

You need to look at the blue bar (which represents the precipitation) and the red line ( which represents the temperature) and compare those two. If one climate graph has a really high red line and really low blue line, it will probably be a country in the climate zone of hot desert.

Question 17

What convectional rainfall?

Answer 17

Heat from the ground surface rises, cools, condenses and forms clouds.

Question 18

What is relief rainfall?

Answer 18

Warm air is forced over the mountains. Warm air cools, condenses and forms clouds.

Question 19

What is frontall rainfall?

Answer 19

Warm air rises over cold air and above it, cools and condenses into clouds.

Question 20

How does it rain?

Answer 20

It is when water is heated by the sun it evaporates and turns into water vapour, which rises into the air. It cools and condenses and becomes cloud droplets. When all these small droplets join together, they become visible and form clouds. A cloud rains when the tiny droplets become too heavy and fall from the sky.

Question 21

How does high air pressure affect the weather?

Answer 21

When air sinks and warms this causes a high pressure system. There are clear skies and no rain.
In Summer, clear skies mean that there are no clouds to stop the sun shining through and so days can be warm.
At night, however, there are no clouds to stop the heat escaping so nights can be cool.

Question 22

How does low air pressure affect the weather?

Answer 22

When air rises, it creates a low pressure at the earth’s surface. Air rising means clouds form and there is a possibility of rain. If there is lowair pressure it is not going to be good weather.

Question 23

What is the weather like if there is high pressure in the summer?

Answer 23

There are no clouds so the sun is strong.
No clouds mean that there is no rain. There may be some droughts in some places.
Since there is no clouds to trap the heat in, evenings can be cool.
No clouds also means the ground gets cold at night. Water vapour condenses on grass to form dew.

Question 24

What is an air mass and what weather do they bring?

Answer 24

Air masses are huge blocks of air which affect the weather in a place. They can be damp or dry, warm or cold, depending on where they came from and over what type of surface they have travelled.
For example, an air mass that has travelled over the sea will increase its moisture content and be more likely to produce rainy weather. If it was coming from a warm ocean would bring warm, damp weather.

Question 25

What happens at a warm and cold front?

Answer 25

Where two air masses join, we have a front. A front brings a change in the weather.
A warm front means that warm air is coming. At a warm front, warm air is rising over cold air. This usually produces clouds and rain.
A cold front means that cold air is coming. At a cold front, cold air pushes under the warm air. This produces strong winds and heavy rain.

Question 26

What is depression and what pattern of weather occurs?

Answer 26

Under a depression air is rising, forming an area of low pressure at the surface. This rising air cools and condenses and helps encourage cloud formation, so the weather is often cloudy and wet.

Question 27

What needs to happen so cyclones can be formed?

Answer 27

• These are low pressure system.
• Very strong winds and heavy rain.
• Driven by energy from water vapour, which condenses to form high storm clouds.
• They need certain conditions to be able to form.

Question 28

How are tropical cyclones formed?

Answer 28

Tropical cyclones form over warm water (over 26°C) in the tropics normally between summer and autumn when sea temperatures are at their highest (because water takes longer to heat than land). Warm air over an ocean has a huge ability to evaporate quickly creating low pressure. As it rises, it cools and condenses to form clouds. The Cumulonimbus cloud releases heat which powers the tropical cyclone. More and more water is drawn up from the ocean so the clouds continue to grow and the storm intensifies.

Question 29

What were the impacts of Typhoon Haiyan?

Answer 29

The UN say Typhoon Haiyan has displaced nearly 600,000 people and damaged or destroyed 90% of homes in some areas.
453 domestic and international airline flights were cancelled.
It is estimated to have cost the government at least $5.8 billion to repair all damages and for lost earnings.
Up to 10,000 people may have died across the Philippines, Vietnam, China and South Pacific islands.
Water and sewerage systems have been destroyed in many areas.
Typhoon Haiyan knocked over barge causing an oil spill of over 150,000 litres.
Major roads were blocked by trees, and impassable.