What is climate and what is happening to it?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

We very often use such concepts as "weather" and "climate". But do we always clearly understand what it is? And if we know more about the weather, then not everyone will say what climate is. Let's try to figure it out.

Weather is the state of the atmospheric layer of air at the very surface of the earth over any territory at a given time. It depends on many different factors and, first of all, on the processes that occur in the atmosphere.

The weather is very changeable, it can change several times during the day. But if you look closely, observe it throughout the year, you can notice some permanent properties. For example, the alternation in a certain sequence of warm and cold weather, its change according to the seasons. These features characteristic of a given area are called climate. In other words, what climate is can be said like this - it is the long-term weather regime in a given territory.

Why is it different?

Since the Earth is sphericalshape, its surface is illuminated by the Sun unequally. At the poles, the sun's rays hardly heat the surface, sliding and reflecting from the snow cover, they go back into space. What is the climate of the polar regions - it's constant cold, eternal snow and ice.

But in the equatorial region it is always hot, here the illumination is maximum, so the Sun is always at its zenith. On both sides of the equator are areas with the hottest conditions, they are called the tropics. Not only are these areas always warm, but they are also the wettest, as a lot of moisture evaporates due to high temperatures. The abundance of precipitation and warm air contribute to the rapid growth of vegetation. Such a species diversity of representatives of flora and fauna on the planet is not found anywhere else. There is no need to further explain in what climate tropical forests grow, but why there are many deserts in the same tropics needs to be clarified.

Moisture-saturated air gradually becomes drier as it moves from the equator to the poles. In tropical latitudes, there is almost no moisture in it, because of this there are such corners on Earth where not a single drop of rain has fallen for several years. In such conditions, deserts are formed, in particular, the largest desert in the world, the Sahara.

What is the climate of the highlands?

It is much colder in the mountains than in the plains, and these changes are associated with altitude. The higher from the foot, the more severe the climate becomes, since the air temperature decreases with distance from the earth's surface. At the same time, such a pattern is observed - when climbing for every thousand metersit gets 6°C colder.

The impact of climate on human life

The weather can change several times a day, the climate also changes, only much more slowly, it takes millennia. It is influenced not only by natural factors, for example, volcanic eruptions, but also by the results of human activity. Deforestation, ozone depletion, air pollution - all this has a negative impact on the Earth's climate.

Changes, even the smallest ones, can lead to big problems for humanity. The distribution of natural zones is changing, in some areas there is a change in the types of flora and fauna, there is a melting of glaciers and ice fields in the Arctic Ocean. All this will affect not only the living conditions of people, but also their economic activities.