LESSON

1 CLIMATE AND WEATHER PATTERNS

Weather is the condition of the atmosphere at a given place and time. It is

characterized by the air temperature, air pressure, humidity, wind speed, wind di-
rection and sky condition. The weather conditions in a place over a long period of
time is called climate. The Earth can be divided into different zones, with each zone
having its own type of climate.

CLIMATE ZONES
The climate zones on Earth are the polar,
temperate and tropical zones. The climates on
these zones are mostly influenced by how
much sunlight reaches them.
The polar zone is the coldest region. This
zone is located at the very top and bottom of
the globe and thus, receives little to no sun-
light. The places in this zone experience short,
cool summers and long, freezing winters. The
air is also dry because of the lack of moisture.
The northern portions of Canada, Europe and Russia as well as the whole Greenland
and Antarctica fall within this zone.
The temperature zone receives moderate amount of sunlight and is character-
ized by warm to hot summers and cool winters. The temperature in this zone also
changes plenty of times throughout the year. Thus, most of the places in this zone
experience four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Places that fall within
the temperature zone include Japan, most of the United States and the lower parts
of South America.
The tropical zone lies near the equator, making it the zone that receives the
most direct sunlight and thus, the warmest. This zone can be classified into three
kinds: the tropical wet zone, the semi-arid zone and the arid zone. Places that fall
within the tropical wet zone such as the Philippines, receive plenty of rain and expe-
rience almost the same temperature all year round.
 These places also have humid (moist and hot) climate. On the hand, those
that fall within the semi-arid and arid zones such as Africa and Saudi Arabia, experi-
ence wet, hot summers and dry, cool winters.

Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere that can

affect an area’s weather and climate.

FACTORS AFFECTING CLIMATE

There are certain factors that affect the climate in different areas on Earth.
These factors are latitude, altitude, temperature, precipitation, prevailing winds, to-
pography and bodies of water.

LATITUDE
Places on Earth may be located using a point of reference called latitude, or
the distance of a place from the equator. Areas near the equator receive direct
rays from the sun. Thus, these places experience high temperatures all year round.
Areas near the pole and far from the equator receive lesser rays from the sun and
thus experience cooler climate.

ALTITUDE
Air temperature decreases as you go higher in the atmosphere. Thus, places
with high elevation or higher altitude, such as mountains, have cooler climates.
Altitude refers to the height or distance of a particular place from the ground.
In polar or temperate regions, mountains areas are packed with ice almost all year
round.

TEMPERATURE
There has been a major rise in the Earth’s temperature since the early 20th
century. This phenomenon is called global warming, which is caused by the burning
of fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil, and coal that contributes to the amount of
greenhouse gases on the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide,
nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases and methane are those that absorb and trap some
of the heat coming from the sun, causing the heat to remain in the atmosphere. This
phenomenon is called, the greenhouse effect, which as the name suggests, works
like a greenhouse. When sunlight passes through the glass of a greenhouse, the
heat gets trapped inside. This helps the plants being grown inside to get enough
heat to last the winter months.
However, too much heat can cause them to wither and die. Similarly, too much
heat in the atmosphere can be harmful to living organisms.
The effects of the global warming have been worsening and can be increas-
ingly felt each year. These effects include the abnormal and long-term changes in
the weather, a phenomenon called climate change. Global warming and climate
change can further lead to extreme heat in the summer, the shortening of the win-
ter months in some countries, as well as the melting of glaciers and ice caps in Ant-
arctica and the rise in sea levels.

PRECIPITATION
Precipitation is any liquid or solid that falls from the Earth’s atmosphere to the
ground. Rain, hail and snow are examples of precipitation.
The amount of precipitation and thus the climate, in region an be affected by
the presence of mountain range. As previously discussed, as altitude increases, the
temperature decreases. Consequently, as the temperature decreases, the ability of
the clouds to hold moisture also decreases. As the air and clouds travel over the
peak of the mountain, moisture is released as precipitation. When the air and clouds
reach the other side, only little moisture remain in them. Thus, this side receives little
to no precipitation and remains dry.
Precipitation in the form of rain is most prevalent in the tropical wet zones,
mainly because of warm ocean temperatures and wind patterns. Abundant rainfall
gives rise to dense rainforests which serve as homes to a diverse a community of
plants and animals.

PREVAILING WINDS
Prevailing winds consistently come from a single direction and blow toward a
particular place or region on Earth. These winds have different patterns at different
latitudes on Earth. The differences in the patterns are due to the Earth’s rotation and
the uneven heat that comes from the sun.
When the wind blows, it brings air from one climate zone to another. This can
affect the amount of rainfall an area receives. For examples, if warm wind is carried
to a region with a cold climate, the water vapor condenses into droplets of water
and creates rain.
TOPOGRAPHY
Topography is the arrangement of the physical features of an area. Areas with
elevated land have a different climate than the lower areas. Mountains, for in-
stance, are elevated and have a colder climates compared to other lowland are-
as.

BODIES OF WATER
Large bodies of water have a moderating effect on climate. Compared to
land, water heats and cools more gradually. As a result of these temperature differ-
ences, coastal areas are more windy than areas found in land. Regions that are
landlocked experience extreme temperature .

WEATHER PATTERNS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Like climate, a weather pattern is the repeated weather condition of a partic-
ular place at a given period of time. However, this period is shorter than climate
ranging only a few days, weeks or months. For instance, the weather may have
been sunny for about two months but then it suddenly rains for a whole week. After
that, sunny weather returns. These two types of weather will then appear alternately
throughout the year at different periods of time.
Weather patterns are affected by different weather phenomena. In the Philip-
pines, the weather patterns are usually caused by fronts and monsoons.
A front is a boundary that separates warm and cold air masses. Air masses are
giant bodies of air with the same temperature and water vapor concentration.
Fronts are classified into two types: warm front and cold front.

A warm front is the boundary along a warm air mass that is pushing out and
gliding over a cold air mass. A warm front causes stratus and nimbostrous cloud to
form. These clouds bring long, steady rains.
 A cold cloud front, on the other hand appears when a cold air mass is pushing
out a warm air mass. This type of front form a large cumulonimbus clouds, which
bring thunderstorms and rain showers.
A monsoon is a seasonal shift or change in the direction of the prevailing
winds in a region. There are two kinds of monsoons in the Philippines: the northeast
monsoon and the southwest monsoon. The northeast monsoon or amihan is a cool,
dry air mass coming from the northeast, particularly from Siberia, Mongolia and Chi-
na. The amihan brings rainshowers that mostly affect the eastern part of the country.
These affects are usually felt during the months of November to February. On the
other hand, the southwest monsoons or the habagat brings warm, moist winds hand
heavy rainfall, which can lead to the formation of typhoons. The habagat occurs in
June to October.