How different types of weather are formed

Weather refers to the atmospheric conditions in a given place at a given time.

Climate refers to the average atmospheric conditions for a place.

The Sun heats the Earth unevenly. This happens because:

1. Part of the Earth is not facing the Sun at any point in time
2. The area near the Equator gets much more heat from direct sunlight than the Poles
3. Different parts of the Earth absorb heat differently (eg - water doesn’t heat up as much as land)

How the Sun leads to different types of weather:

1. The Sun heats the Earth unevenly, causing some parts to be hotter.
2. The hotter parts warm the air around, and this air then rises. (Hot air lighter than cold air)
3. The colder air rushes in (flows) to take up the place of the hot air. This moving air is wind.
4. The Sun’s heat causes the oceans and seas to evaporate. This water vapour in the air is what leads to humidity
5. This water vapour can rise up with the hot air. It’s colder the higher you go, so this water vapour then
condenses into droplets. The clumps of droplets are called clouds.
6. As it gets colder, the clouds become more heavy and dense, and they look darker to us as well. When they
get too heavy, the water falls to the ground as precipitation (mostly rain).
7. If the temperature on land is cold, then the rain may freeze into sleet, hail, or snow.
8. In cold areas, the water vapour might be visible at ground level. We call this fog. If the fog is mixed with
smoke pollution, it is called smog.

Measuring the Weather

Measurement What it measures Units of Measurement Tool of Measurement

Temperature Hot/Cold Celcius, Kelvin Thermometer

Precipitation Rain, Snow, Hail, Sleet Millimetres (mm), Rain Gauge

Centimetres (cm)

Air Pressure Force of the air pressing down (from gravity) Millibars (mb), 1000 mb or Barometer
1 bar is avg atmospheric
pressure at sea level

Wind Speed Speed of the wind Kilometres per hour Anemometer

(km/hr)

Wind Direction Direction of the wind Compass Directions Wind Vane/Wind Sock

Humidity Moisture in the air Percentage (%), 100% is Hygrometer

rain

Cloudiness Amount of sky covered by cloud (cloud okta, 1 okta is one 1/8 of Cyanometer
cover) the sky

Fog Level of visibility in the fog km, Kilometres of visibility Ceilometer

It is always important to use measurements for objective data, and to use the appropriate units when making any
measurement.
Rainfall and precipitation
How rain is formed:
1. The sun heats the oceans, as well as lakes and rivers, causing some of the water to evaporate.
2. The water vapour rises into the air, and as it rises further up, it cools and condenses into clumps of water
droplets in the sky, which we call clouds.
3. As more of these droplets condense, they join the clouds and make them heavier [more dense]. The dense
clouds usually look darker because there is more water vapour in them. When the clouds get heavy enough,
they precipitate and fall to the ground as rain.
4. There are other types of precipitation too! If the temperature at the ground is very cold, the precipitation can
freeze while falling, and turn into hail. If the overall temperature is really cold, then the water vapour can
freeze directly into snow.
Not all rain is created equal. The conditions that lead to the condensation of vapour can be quite different, and
this leads to different kinds of rainfall. Understanding the different kinds of rainfall is very important to know how
we can use the land on which it rains well.

Types of Rainfall:
1. Relief Rainfall: It is caused by a weather condition (wind) and a geographical feature (mountain/hill). Wind
carries the air over oceans, collecting water vapour along the way. When the wind comes up against a
mountain or hill, it is forced to rise. This causes the water vapour to cool and condense, leading to
precipitation near the mountain. Relief rainfall falls on the windward side of the mountain, while the leeward
side gets very little rain.
Windward - side facing the wind, Leeward - side away from the wind
2. Convectional Rainfall: Convectional rainfall is rainfall that often happens in hotter parts of the world. It is
caused by convection heating of the land below. The hot land causes the air around it to warm up faster and
rise up faster as well. Once the air rises, the water vapour within it condenses and falls to the ground. This kind
of rain tends to be heavy but brief.
3. Frontal Rainfall: When the fronts of 2 blocks [or masses] of air come up against each other, the warmer air
mass rises up, and the colder one stays at a lower level. The warmer air mass rises up faster than it would have
because it comes into contact with the colder air mass. This causes the water vapour to condense and
precipitate. Frontal rainfall happens in cooler weather, and it is light but persistent.

Types of Clouds

The following table contains 3 main types of clouds and the key differentiators between them.

Cumulus Stratus Cirrus

Height <2000 metres 2000 - 7000 metres >7000 metres

Shape Fluffy and clumpy Flat lines like blankets Wispy

Colour Light to dark grey White, to light grey White

These clouds rarely produce

Rain Type Heavy rain, Short showers Steady long drizzle
rain

When a cloud is about to rain, it becomes greyer than it usually is. We then add the name ‘nimbus’ to the
description. Eg - Cumulonimbus, Stratonimbus
Air Pressure and Wind

Air pressure is the force of the air pressing down on us. The air is pulled towards the Earth by the force of gravity,
and this is also how we have an atmosphere. Through the uneven warming of the Earth by the sun, the air may
rise in some areas, where it is hotter. This makes the pressure in those areas lower since there are fewer molecules
of air [less of the air]. When rain falls, the air pressure in the area increases because the water takes up some of
the space.
More heat = less pressure, More cold = more pressure
More rain = more pressure, When the pressure drops, that’s when rain is about to happen.

Air has a tendency to flow from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. The flowing air caused by this
process is called wind.

Storms and Air Masses

Air Mass - A large block of air that moves very slowly. Air masses can be hot or cold, damp or dry.

Air masses are different from wind in 2 ways:

1. Wind is actively moving in a direction to fill the vacuum caused by heated air. Air masses are not moving in a
specific direction. When they move, it is caused by coming into contact with other blocks of air, or wind
2. The patterns of wind are predictable since we can study the conditions on the Earth that form it. Air masses
are not predictable because their movement is caused by random interactions with wind and other air masses.
Storms form when 2 different air masses of very different temperature, pressure, and humidity collide with each
other.
Climate: How is it different from the weather?

The climate is the average long-term conditions of a place. The climate is influenced by long term conditions, and
the climate of a place is generally considered to be a single type of climate. It can tell you what the weather is
usually like, so you can make predictions about it.

To get this average, people take many measurements over a long period of time (a few decades), every day.
These averages are often calculated by month.

When we measure the climate of a place, there are 4 key types of information that we are looking for. They are:
1. Average Temperature - To get the average temperature, we actually use 2 separate measurements. They are
the temperature at the highest point in the day (usually sometime after noon), and at the lowest point
(sometime before sunrise). With these, we can get the average high, and the average low.
2. Average Precipitation - Average precipitation can refer to rain or snow. Rain is usually measured in mm, snow
is measured in cm. With both, there are two types of measurements we take. The first is the average amount
of precipitation in a month, the second is the average number of days of precipitation in a month.
3. Average Hours of Daylight - We can measure the number of hours of daylight at different times of the year,
across many years, to get the averages for each month. For places close to the equator, the daylight
doesn’t change much, but for places closer to the poles, it can change a great deal.
4. Average Wind Speed - To get the average wind speed, we measure the maximum recorded speed each day,
and we take the average of all those measurements. The resulting information is called the average wind
high. The other important measurement we collect is the wind direction.

Factors affecting the climate

Altitude - The higher the altitude of a place, the colder the climate usually is
Latitude - The closer a place is to the Equator, the warmer the climate. This is because the area near the Equator
receives consistent sunlight all year round.
Tilt of the Earth - The Earth spins on its axis, which is tilted. This tilt causes one side to be facing the Sun for half
the year, and the other side for half. This creates the seasons, and explains why seasons are different in different
hemispheres.
Coast Proximity - This refers to how close a place is to the coast. The ocean has an equalising effect on the
climate. This means a place far from the coast will get both colder AND hotter, while a place near the coast will
have a smaller difference in temperature.
Ocean currents - Ocean currents cause winds over seas. When these winds arrive over land, they can have a
heating or cooling effect.
Wind direction - The direction of the wind tends to be on average, constant over a year. This usual direction of
wind can affect rainfall, depending on whether the wind is coming from the sea.

All the ALTCOW factors are things that affect the climate naturally. They are mostly fixed, and only change over
thousands or millions of years.
But the climate IS changing, and is getting hotter very quickly. In some places, winters are colder. Rainfall around
the world is more erratic as well.
This tells us that a significant factor affecting the climate MUST also be human activity. The change in climate
caused specifically by humans is called global warming or climate change.

myclimatefuture.info - How the climate is getting Shrekt

How are our actions causing climate change?

The ways in which our actions are causing climate change can be categorised into the following:
1. Greenhouse gas production - We are releasing too many greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. (Eg - CO2,
Methane, Nitrous Oxide) These gases act like a blanket/greenhouse around the earth, and trap more of the
heat in. We do this through pollution/waste, factories, and energy use which happens by burning.
2. Deforestation - Trees absorb a lot of CO2. They also hold the soil down and prevent soil erosion. We are
however, cutting them down at an alarming rate. This makes the increase in CO2 greater.
3. Loss of freshwater - Freshwater allows plants and vegetation to grow. It keeps the soil healthy. Also, a strong
freshwater ecosystem cools the planet. We are using too much freshwater, and we are also polluting it.
4. Urban Development - The way towns and cities develop don’t often take climate change into account. This
leads to cities being significantly warmer, and warming the Earth around them.

Impact of Climate Change

The impact of climate change can be divided into 2 categories: the impact on the planet itself, and the impact on
our lives on the planet.
Geographic Impact (Impact on the Planet) Human Impact (How it will a ect us)

The Earth is on average, becoming a lot hotter. The Changing temperatures will make the growing of crops less
average temperature is expected to go up by 3-6 predictable and reliable. This will lead to food shortages around the
degrees Celsius in this century alone. world, and make food more expensive, a ecting the poor the most.

Increasing temperatures will cause millions of Rising sea levels, erratic rainfall or river action, and unpredictable
species of both plants and animals to go extinct, storms will all displace millions of people from their homes,
since they will not be suited for the new climate of creating many climate refugees & leading to overcrowding and
where they live. instability.

The ice caps are melting, and as a result, the sea Water shortages around the world will increase the price of water,
levels are rising as well. This will ood many and this could lead to con ict, instability, and maybe even war
ecosystems, and will also exacerbate climate between countries that have water, and those that don’t.
change by causing the remaining ice to melt faster.

There will be more forest res, freshwater ooding, Increasing temperatures will make us prone to more diseases, and
and other unpredictable climatic events. make us feel the negative e ects of the sun a lot more.

The production of greenhouse gases is destroying The increasing temperatures will cause us to use more freshwater
the ozone layer, causing more harmful UV rays to when it is already scarce, and more electricity through things like
reach the Earth. ACs, that will also exacerbate climate change further.

How to stop Climate Change? Individual vs Society

climateactiontracker.org - Demonstration of the failure of governments to address climate change

At the current rate of climate change, the world is expected to get between 3-6 degrees hotter this century. If this
happens, humanity will die out entirely, not to mention the other species that are already dying at a faster rate
than ever. This means that it is essential for us to try to stop climate change in any way possible.
We can combat climate change in two types of ways: through individual changes and societal changes.
Individual changes include things like:
• Wasting less food
• Only buying clothes when necessary
• Reducing consumption of red meat
• Using electric vehicles
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These are all ways to reduce the total amount of Methane and Carbon diOxide released into the atmosphere.
However, as individuals, none of us are by ourselves the problem. None of us have factory farms or oil wells in our
homes! More importantly, it is not like any of us are trying to make the planet hotter.

The problem is that the very system by which we live leads towards wasteful use of resources, because the
primary goal is to generate profit for a few companies. Just 100 of the largest companies in the world produced
71% of all Carbon emissions in the last decade. This system is called capitalism, and it promotes building up of
wealth before everything else, even the condition of the planet.

Fighting Climate Change - Educate, Organise, Agitate

This means that a more effective way is to fight to change society itself, and capitalism, in some way that prevents
big polluters from putting profits before the environment. This is quite difficult to do! However, we can break it
down into a 3 step process:

Educate - We can educate people on what companies do and how to stop them, and other solutions to the
problem
Organise - We can organise together since it's not possible to do it ourselves. We have strength in numbers!
Agitate - We can protest and agitate, and fight back against companies by occupying the land they want to take
over, or blockading their factories, or boycotting their products.