MAP READING AND INTERPRETATION

- In geography, maps are one of the most important tools that researchers,
cartographers, students and others can use to examine the entire Earth or
a specific part of it.
DEFINITION OF A MAP

- A map is a representation of the earth surface, or part of the earth on a

flat sheet of paper.
- It is a flat piece of paper with a drawing of the world or any place of the
world showing various features.
- A map looks as if it were drawn from the view of someone sitting in an
airplane.

FEATURES SHOWN ON MAPS

- Maps are diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing

physical features like cities, roads, buildings and many others.
- Thus, both natural and human made features are represented on the
map.
a. Natural features shown on the map include the following; rivers, lakes,
natural forests, waterfall, swamps and relief such as hills and valleys.

b. Human or artificial features on the map may be towns, villages, roads,

railways, ports, dams, bridges, planted forests and buildings.

MAP SYMBOLS

- The various features found on the earth surface are shown on the map
using different symbols.
- The map symbols are signs and shapes that represent real objects and
features on the ground.
- In addition, mountains and elevation changes on the map are usually
shown with different colours and shades to show such relief.
- The signs and colours that are widely known or agreed to be used for
features on the map are called conventional map symbols or signs.
 The following are commonly used colours on the map.
i. Water is always shown with blue. Rivers, dams, lakes and seas are
shown in blue.

ii. Green is used to show vegetation.

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 iii. Contour lines on the map uses brown colour.

iv. Red can be used to represent roads, air fields, electric lines and
sometimes boundaries.

v. Black is commonly used to show permanent buildings.

Normally on physical maps green shows lower elevations while browns

show high elevations. Low elevation coastal regions are shown in dark
green, while the higher elevations transition from orange to dark
brown.

TYPES OF MAPS

 There are many types of maps and the following are the description of
major types used by geographers.
Physical Map:

A physical map is one that shows the physical landscape features of a

place. They generally show deserts, relief like mountains or hills, water
features such as valleys, rivers, lakes, seas and marshes.
 These maps use colours to represent various forms of landscape.
Topographic Map:

 A topographic map is similar to a physical map in that it shows different

physical landscape features.
 They are different however because they use contour lines instead of
colors to show changes in the landscape.
 Contour lines on topographic maps are normally spaced at regular
intervals to show elevation changes.
 When the lines are close together the terrain is steep and by contrast, the
low elevation, flat coastal areas show contour lines that are spread apart.
Political Map:
 A political map does not show any topographic features.
 It instead focuses solely on the state and national boundaries of a place.
 They also include the locations of cities - both large and small, depending
on the detail of the map.
 A common type of political map would be one showing the 50 U.S. states
and their borders along with the United States' north and south
international borders (map of the United States).
Climate Map:

 A climate map shows information about the climate of an area.

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  They can show things like the specific climatic zones of an area based on
the temperature, the amount of snow an area receives or average
number of cloudy days.
 These maps normally use colors to show different climatic areas.
 A climate map for Australia for example uses colors to show differences
between the temperate area of Victoria and desert region in the center
of the continent.
Economic or Resource Map:

 An economic or resource map shows the specific type of economic

activity or natural resources present in an area through the use of different
symbols or colors depending on what is being shown on the map.
 For example an economic activity map for Brazil can use colors to show
different agricultural products of given areas, letters for natural resources
and symbols for different industries (image showing a map of Brazil).
Road Map:

 A road map is one of the most widely used map types.

 These maps show major and minor highways and roads (depending on
detail) as well as things like airports, city locations and points of interest like
parks, campgrounds and monuments.
 Major highways on a road map are generally red and larger than other
roads, while minor roads are a lighter color and a narrower line.
 A road map of San Francisco, California for example would show the
major highways as a wide red line and other large roads as a lighter red
with minor streets as gray (map of San Francisco).

Thematic Map:

 A thematic map is a map that focuses on a particular theme or special

topic and they are different from the six aforementioned general
reference maps because they do not just show natural features like rivers,
cities, political subdivisions, elevation and highways.
 If these items are on a thematic map, they are background information
and are used as reference points to enhance the map's theme.
 An example of a thematic map would be one showing the population
change of Canada in specific locations from 1996 to 2001.
 The map shows the theme it is attempting to get across to its audience
and uses a political map (e.g. one showing the provincial and territorial
borders of Canada) to give it more of a reference.
 Simply defined maps are pictures of the Earth's surface.
 They can be general reference and show landforms, political boundaries,
water, the locations of cities, or in the case of thematic maps, show

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 different but very specific topics such as the average rainfall distribution
for an area or the distribution of a certain disease throughout a county.
 Today with the increased use of GIS, also known as Geographic
Information Systems, thematic maps are growing in importance.
 There are however applications for different types of general reference
maps when the different types are understood correctly.
 These maps do not just show a city's location for example; instead the
different map types can show a plethora of information about places
around the world.
Five Essential Components of Maps
1. Title It
 The most basic component of a map is its title.

 The title should refer to everything the map covers.

 It could be a basic name of a country, such as "Japan," or it could be

more extensive, such as "Water Tables in the Western Saharan Desert."

 The title should clearly state what the cartographer’s intentions and goals
are; it should be specific, and it should not include irrelevant information.

2. Add a Legend

 Every map must have a legend or key. The legend is a vital tool in
understanding and interpreting the map.

 The legend should explain every feature or symbol contained on the map.

 It should reveal what every marking means and sometimes provide

additional information. For example, a city may be represented by a large
black dot of a certain size on a map, and the legend may explain that
this represents a city with a population greater than 1 million people.

3. Provide Perspective with a Scale

 A scale is important to put into perspective for the reader the distances
on the map and to provide accurate navigational information for the
user.

 A scale tells the user what the scaled-down size of the representation is.

 This is usually represented by a ratio. For example, if a map represents an

area that is actually 100,000 times bigger, the map’s scale is 1:100,000.

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 4. Determine Compass Orientation

 All maps must have a compass orientation. Because the primary purpose
of a map is to provide and insight into directions, a map has to be able to
show which way is which on a compass. Most maps have "North" at the
top and "South" at the bottom, but all maps should have an official
representation of the compass orientation.

5. Date It

 To give context to a map, the date of publication should be present.

 As maps are continually updated with additional information and

improved accuracy, it is important to know the time when your map
was published.

 For example, viewing a map of London published in 1970 might still be

useful but will not be as accurate as one published in 2014.

GROUND LEVEL PHOTOGRAPHS AND AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS

 A ground level photograph shows a quick view of how the landscape
looks like.
 An aerial photograph is a picture of part of the Earth surface taken by a
camera from the sky such as using an aeroplane.
 The photograph shows all features that are found in the area.
There are two types of aerial photographs

1. Vertical and aerial photographs are taken at right angles to the ground.

2. An Oblique aerial photograph is taken from a tilted angle in the

atmosphere.

i. High oblique aerial photograph is where the picture is taken from

high level of a sky. This picture shows a large area of the surface.

 It also shows the horizon. In addition, features are shown in smaller

sizes.

ii. Low oblique aerial photograph is where the picture shows a small
area and does not show the horizon.

 The features on this photograph are bigger than in low oblique

pictures.

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Differences between the map and an aerial photograph

 An aerial photograph shows all features on the ground but a map

shows some selected features.

 Maps can be drawn from the aerial photograph.

 An aerial photograph does not have scale but a map is drawn

according to scale.

USES OF MAPS

Maps are important for a number of reasons. Some of the ways in which maps
are used are as follows:

 Maps are used to show different features in an area on the earth surface.

 Maps also give a picture of how other distant places look like.

 They are also used to locate various places on earth.

 They are used for measuring distances between two places.

 They are also used in calculating local time.

 They help to find or indicate direction of places.

SCALE OF A MAP

 Scale of the map is the ratio between the distance on the map and the
actual distance on the ground.
 It is therefore the relationship that exists between the map and the
portion of the earth’s surface which the map represents.

Types of Map Scales

1. Simple Statement:

 This type of scale is written in words, as a statement.

 For example; 1 centimetre (cm) represents 50, 000 cm or 1 cm to 50, 000
cm.
 Other examples are, 1 cm represents 10 km and 5 cm represents 20 km.
2. Representative fraction (R. F.) or ratio scale:
 In this form, the scale is expressed as a fraction.

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  The upper number (numerator) of the fraction is always the distance on
the map while the denominator shows actual distance on the ground.
 The numerator must always be simplified to 1 but the denominator is
mostly, the larger figure.

 Examples are fractions, and or ratios 1:100 and 1: 50 000.

3. Linear or line scale:
 This method uses a horizontal line which has two major divisions.
 There are primary divisions to show the distance in kilometres and
secondary divisions with parts of a kilometre.
 The line is divided into equal parts where the calculations for full kilometers
start at 0 going towards the right and parts of a kilometer starting at 0
going towards the left.
 This is an example of linear scale.

Sizes of Map Scales

a. Large-scale maps
 Show a small area and accurate details of the land surface.
 They are called large-scale because they have a large scale and show
more detail of the land surface.
 Examples of large-scale maps can be the following fractions and their
ratios: 1:1 000; 1:2 500, 1:5 000 and 1:10 000.
 The fraction of a large-scale map has a small denominator.
b. Small-scale maps
 Actual distances are greatly reduced.
 Small-scale maps cover large areas like the maps of the world found in
atlases.
 Examples of small-scale maps are: 1:100 000 (1cm to 10km) 1:500 000;
1:250 000.
 The ratio of a small-scale map has a large denominator.
c. Medium-scale maps

 Have their features moderately represented as neither small nor big.

 They may include the following; 1:25 000 and 1:50 000

 Remember: a large-scale map is a big piece of paper showing a small

area. A small-scale map is a small piece of paper showing a large area.

MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCES ON MAPS

 Distances can be measured between two points on a map.

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  These two points may involve roads, railway lines, footpaths, rivers, etc.
INSTRUMENTS USED

 There are several instruments that one can use to measure distances on
maps such as: a string, paper or pair of dividers.
1. USING A THIN STRING

 Take a length of thin string, which is not elastic.

STEPS TO FOLLOW

 Mark the beginning and end of the line that you are supposed to
measure.
 Mark the beginning of the string as you stretch it across the line.
 Mark on the string and on the map any curve you come across.
 After marking all bends and curves and reaching the end, measure the
marked length against the linear scale.
2. PIECE OF PAPER WITH A STRAIGHT EDGE

STEPS TO FOLLOW

 Mark at one end of the paper the point where you will begin to measure.
 Make a second mark at the end of the first straight length.
 With the pencil still on the second mark, twist the paper so that you get
your second straight length along the straight edge of the paper.
 Continue the process until you reach the end of the line you are
measuring.
 Refer the marks on the paper to the linear scale of the map to find the
total distance required.
NOTE: Be careful that the paper does not slip from the mark.

3. PAIR OF DIVIDERS

STEPS TO FOLLOW

Extend the pair of dividers from the starting point up to where they may

end.
 If the line is longer, rotate the dividers along it and carefully note the
number of rotations made.
 Refer the length from the pair of dividers to the linear scale on the map to
find the total distance required.
MEASUREMENT OF AREAS ON MAPS

A. REGULAR SHAPES

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  Measure the two sides ( where you have Length and breadth)
 Divide the Length by two then breadth by two as well.( as each grid is
2cm which represents a kilometer assuming the scale is 1:50 000)
 Multiply the figures to get total area which should be given in km²
 Count the number of boxes covered by the shape and multiply by area
of 1 square box.
B. IRREGULAR SHAPES

Calculate the number of full boxes.

 Calculate the number of half boxes and divide them by two in order to
have full boxes
 Add full and the number of half boxes (that have been divided by two) to
find the total number of boxes.
 Multiply the sum by 1km² to come up with total area. (as each box is 1km²
if scale is 1:50 000) TOTAL AREA=56+24+31+42=132 km²2
Making maps bigger and smaller

Maps can be enlarged or reduced according to different sizes.

Enlarging a map using the grid blocks

 The initial scale of the map is multiplied by the amount by which the map
is to be enlarged.
 Measure the width and length of the original map and multiply each side
by 2 (if the scale is 1:50 000)
 Draw the new frame on the piece of paper, the sides as twice as big as
the original map
 Add the grid lines which will be twice as far apart as on the original map
 Copy the content of each square from the original map onto your
enlarged map.
 To reduce the map you follow the same steps but draw each block
smaller to fit the required size.
 The reduced map will have a smaller scale with less ground detail and
reduced distances.
DIRECTION

 Directions are based on the four main points of the cardinal points which
are:
1. North
2. South

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 3. East
4. West
 However, there are other sub-cardinal points making a total of sixteen
points.
 Most maps depict three types of north:
 True north and this is based on the North Pole.
 Grid north on which the grid system of the map is based.
 Magnetic north which is based on the direction in which a compass
needle points.
MAGNETIC VARIATION

The difference between magnetic north and true north due to magnetic
North’s variation from place to place.
FINDING DIRECTION

Find the direction of point B from A


i. Find the north direction on the map
ii. Draw the four main points of the compass, making sure that the
north to south line is parallel to the one given on the map and the
same for the east to west line
iii. Join points A and B with a straight line and the line joining the two
points and going from A to B and it gives the direction of B from A
which is south-east
BEARINGS

Directions from a place can be measured as an angle (bearing). The


compass has four sectors of 90ºeach (which gives a total of 360º).
 By establishing the N-S line, the location of a place can be expressed in
degrees in a clockwise direction from north.
CALCULATING BEARING

 Calculate bearing of D from C

i. Draw a north to south line through point C
ii. Join points C and D with a straight line
iii. Using the north line as a starting point move clockwise until you come
across the line joining C and D
iv. Obtain bearing by measuring angle x (in the example it is 240º
GRID REFERENCES

 Maps are covered with vertical and horizontal lines. These lines form a
pattern of squares which is called the map grid.
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 The grid lines are composed of northings and eastings.

Eastings are the lines whose numbers increase towards the east from the

west.
 northings are the lines whose numbers increase towards the north from the
south
HOW TO GIVE A FOUR FIGURE GRID REFRENCE

Eastings are given first followed by northings (two digits for eastings and

followed by two digits for northings).
 Using the diagram used to give six figure grid reference the four figure is 18
for eastings and 44 for northings which is 1844.
HOW TO GIVE A SIX FIGURE GRID REFRENCE

 Eastings are always given first followed by the northing (three digits for
eastings followed by three digits for northings).
 The third digit in each case is an estimate of the number of tenths,
eastward (for eastings) and northward (for northings).
 Using the figure, give the six figure grid reference for the grey mark and
the red dot
i. Come up with eastings which is 18
ii. Come up with the third digit for eastings which is 7 for grey and 5for the
red dot (this means 7/10 and 5/10 eastwards of grid line 18)
iii. Come up with northings which is 44
iv. Come up with the third digit for northings which is 8 for grey and 3 for red
(this means 8/10 and 3/10 northwards of gridline 44)
v. the full grid reference is 187448 for 185443
Representing relief on maps

Relief is the name given to the surface forms that we see in the
landscape.
 Such forms include plains, valleys, mountains, ridges and hills.
 Drainage features, such as lakes, rivers and basins, are also part of the
relief.
 There are many ways of showing relief on topographical maps. e.g., the
use of contour lines, symbols, shading and layer colouring, form lines,
bench marks trigonometrical points, spot heights and hachure marks.
1. Contour lines

 These are accurately surveyed lines drawn on a map joining places

having the same altitude or height above sea level.

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 The height of the land surface is always measured from sea level.

Places far away from the sea which are higher than the level of the sea

are said to be above sea level.
 The coastline, where the sea meets the land is given the value ‘0’ meters
or feet.
Symbols used to give height above sea level

Symbols are used to show high points on topographical maps.

The most common symbols are spot heights and trigonometrical beacons
(sometimes called trig, beacons).
 The height is marked against the symbol on the map.
a. Contour lines

 Where contour lines are close together they show that the land is steep.
 Where they are far apart, the slope of the land is gentle or it is a plain. On
printed topographic maps, the contour lines are brown in colour.
b. Spot heights
 are black dots with a corresponding height number .1265
c. Trigonometrical beacons
 Are triangles shown in black 1265
d. Bench marks
 Use a black arrow. The height is indicated against the symbol. 1265
2. Layer tinting

 Layer tinting is commonly used in atlas maps. Various shades of colors are
used to show variations in height.
 For example, green or yellow may be used to show lower land and
varying shades of brown for the higher surfaces.
 Study maps in your atlas to see how various shades of colour are used to
show height above sea level.
 Note that the colours used may change from atlas to atlas, so you should
always refer to the key to see what the colours mean.
3. Hill shading

 On some small-scale maps, parts of the map are shaded to form a

shadow effect.
 This is done to emphasize the high and low areas of a map.
 The high land areas are normally shaded in the darkest colour.
 Hill shading does not tell you the actual height of the land, it merely shows
the differences in height.

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4. Hachuring

Hachures are short lines used to show the direction of slopes.

Where there are steep slopes, the hachures are darker and closer
together.
 For gentle slopes the hachures are widely spaced.
Cross-sections and gradients

1. Cross-sections

A cross-section is a side view of a piece of land.


We use cross-sections to see the slope and form of the land between two

points.
 Cross-sections are drawn using a vertical scale to represent the contour
heights between two points.
 The horizontal scale is the same as the one used on the map.
HOW TO DRAW A CROSS SECTION ALONG THE LINE AB

 Take a piece of paper with a straight edge which is slightly longer than
AB.
 Place the piece of paper along the AB line and mark A as the beginning
of your cross section and B where your cross section will end.
 Then start from A and make vertical mark on the paper where every
contour line meets the line AB.
 Indicate the height of the contour line against every mark.
 In your notebook draw a horizontal line the length of AB and mark the
ends.
 Draw perpendicular lines at each end. These lines must be at right angles.
 Measuring upwards from AB, on the perpendicular lines make marks ½cm
apart, and then draw horizontal parallel lines.
 The base line represents the lowest height that you might have recorded
on the AB line.
 Mark this neatly at the side of the vertical line and then add 50ft every
½cm as you move up.
 Place the marked paper along the base line so that A on the paper falls
on the A on your scale.
 Transfer the contours marked on the paper to the base line of the scale.
 Using a ruler and a pencil lightly draw vertical lines up to the line which
represents the contour line (height).

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 After transferring all the heights to the vertical scale, join the points with a

smooth curve starting from A and ending at B.
 Hilltops will have an upward curve and valleys will have a down ward
curve.
 An example of a cross section
2. Gradient

 The angle of slope of the land is known as gradient.

 It is also known as the amount of rise and fall of land in a certain
horizontal distance.
 This is the ratio of the height between two points on land and the
distance between them.
 To express this properly do the following:
i. Determine the difference in height between the two places by examining
the contour lines.
ii. The difference in height is called the vertical interval (VI) e.g. (145-
125=20m)
iii. Measure the distance between the two points.
iv. The distance between the points is the horizontal equivalent (HE) or you
can call it horizontal Distance (HD) for easy understanding (5km).
v. Convert both measurements to the same unit.
vi. The gradient of slope can be calculated using the formula: VI or VI = 20 =
20 = 1 HD HE 5km 5000 250
INTERPRETATION

If you travel from the bottom going upwards every 250m you rise up by 1m

and when you travel from the top going downwards every 250m you drop
by 1m.
INTERVISIBILITY

 This is to determine if two points on a map are visible or not from each
other.
 Take the following steps:
i. Find the two points on the map and note their heights from the nearest
contour lines and then join them with a straight line having marked them
AB.
ii. Carefully observe the height of the contour lines cutting the line joining
the points A and B.
iii. If the heights in between are not higher than those for A, then the two
points are intervisible.
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 iv. If the heights in between are higher than those for B, then the two points
are not intervisible.
v. Sometimes the question demands that you support your answer with a
diagram, and then you have to construct a cross section.
vi. Join the two places with a straight line.
vii. This line is known as the line of sight; if it passes clear of any land between
the two points.

GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system that records,

stores, and analyzes information about the features that make up the
Earth's surface.
 A GIS can generate 2- or 3-dimensional images of an area, showing such
natural features as hills and rivers along with artificial features such as
roads and power lines.
 Scientists use GIS images as models, making precise measurements,
gathering data, and testing ideas with the help of the computer.
 A GIS is designed to accept geographic data from a variety of sources,
including maps, satellite imageries, photographs, and printed text and
statistics.
 The applications of a GIS are vast and continue to grow.
 By using GIS, scientists can research changes in the environment;
engineers can design road systems; electrical companies can manage
their complex networks of power lines; governments can track the uses of
land; and fire and police departments can plan emergency routes.
 Many private businesses have begun to use a GIS to plan and improve
their services.
 GIS is a unique integration of computer hardware, software, peripherals,
procedural techniques, organizational structure, people and institution for
capturing, manipulating, storing, analyzing, modulating, modelling and
displaying geographically referenced data for solving complex human
related problems.
 This suggests that GIS is neither the software nor hardware, it neither is the
procedure to solve problem, but a good integration of all these
components of GIS.
 It plays five important capabilities.
USES OF GIS IN THE MODERN WORLD

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a. Poverty reduction programs:

GIS technology help in better planning of various natural resources and

land use thereby helping in balanced development in poverty reduction
programs.
b. Disaster management:
 The technology helps in various measures for prediction, mitigation and
management of disaster such as erosion, solid waste, floods, etc.
c. Education:
 By educating school children, tertiary institutions students, and the general
public on the issues of environmental awareness through better
illustrations by GIS technology.
d. Agriculture:
 This technology provides suitable tools to various agriculture crops, yield
forecasting and monitoring agriculture areas.
e. Forestry:
 Application of these technologies in forestry sector helps better inventory
of forest resources, sustainable use of forest resources, reforestation
activities, and the management of community forests.
f. Biodiversity:
 Also helps in better management of biodiversity through better mapping
of resources, and strategies for biodiversity conservation.
g. Tourism:
 Tourism is one of the important sectors of the national economy.
 The use of this technology assists the industry with better planning of
tourism infrastructure, generation and dissemination of such by virtual
reality, better quality maps, etc.
h. Health and Medicine:
 This technology helps in monitoring and management of areas under
herbs, designing herbs plantation areas, monitoring disease and
epidemics, etc.
Data representation

 GIS data represents real objects (such as roads, land use, elevation, trees,
waterways, etc.) with digital data determining the mix.
 Real objects can be divided into two abstractions: discrete objects (e.g.,
a house) and continuous fields (such as rainfall amount, or elevations).
 Traditionally, there are two broad methods used to store data in a GIS for
both kinds of abstractions mapping references: raster images and vector.

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  Points, lines, and polygons are the stuff of mapped location attribute
references.
 A new hybrid method of storing data is that of identifying point clouds,
which combine three-dimensional points with RGB information at each
point, returning a "3D colour image".
 GIS Thematic maps then are becoming more and more realistically
visually descriptive of what they set out to show or determine.
 An example of use of layers in a GIS application.
 In this example, the forest cover layer (light green) is at the bottom, with
the topographic layer over it.
 Next up is the stream layer, then the boundary layer, then the road layer.
 The order is very important in order to properly display the final result.
 Note that the pond layer was located just below the stream layer, so that
a stream line can be seen overlying one of the ponds.

DRAINAGE PATTERNS

The way rivers and lakes receive and distribute water is called drainage.

The area drained by a river and its tributaries is called a basin or
catchment area.
FACTORS THAT DETERMINE DRAINAGE PATTERNS

 Slope of the land

 Differences in the hardness of the rock
 General relief pattern of an area
 Amount of rainfall in a region
TYPES OF DRAINAGE PATTERNS

 Dendritic
 Trellis
 Radial
 Intermittent (disappearing).
1. Dendritic patterns.

 The tributaries converge with the main river from many directions (this
resembles branches of a tree).
 The rivers join at an acute angle.
 They are found where rocks have the same resistance to weathering and
erosion.
 The rivers follow the angle of slope from the source to the mouth.
17
2. The radial drainage pattern.

 This is where many rivers flow from one source or watershed in an

outwards direction like the spokes on a bicycle wheel.
 Usually the source is a hill with the rivers flowing in all directions
downstream.
3. Trellis.

 This is a regular and rectangular pattern found where rivers and their
tributaries normally flow more or less parallel to each other.
 These patterns are found in areas where there are alternate bands of soft
and hard rock.
 The rivers find it easier to follow weak cross jointing lines in softer rock.
4. Intermittent or disappearing.

Where river courses are indefinite, or disappear into marshes or


underground, the pattern is intermittent or disappearing.
 The rivers disappear and reappear later before reaching the mouth.
ATMOSPHERE
- The word Atmosphere is made up of two words ‘Atmos’ and ‘Sphere’.
- Atmos means vapor and Sphere means space.

- Therefore, Atmosphere is the layer of the earth that comprises of different

gases.
- It is 330 km thick.
EARTH’S STRUCTURE

- It is made up of 5 main layers (core, mantle, crust, hydrosphere, and

atmosphere).
- The core (barysphere), mantle (mesosphere), crust (lithosphere) make up the
internal Structure of the earth.
- The hydrosphere and atmosphere make up the external structure of the earth.
COMPOSITION OF THE ATMOSPHERE

- Gases like nitrogen -78%, oxygen - 21%, carbon dioxide, argon, helium and
water vapor have 1%
- It also contain dust particles which is held in place by gravitational force.
LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE.

18
- It has 4 main zones (troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere)

Troposphere

- Extends from the earth’s surface to height of 18km (equator), 15km (tropics),
11km (temperate) and 8km (poles).
Characteristics

19
- contains 90 % of water vapor of the atmosphere.
- Lowest layer of atmosphere.
- contains weather conditions.
- supports life.
- Air pressure at this level becomes lower with increased height.
- Temperature decreases with increase in height (normal or positive lapse rate)
- Top part of troposphere temperature remain constant (zero lapse rate).

- The very top part of this layer, there is a line called Tropopause or isothermal
layer which separates troposphere from the stratosphere.
Stratosphere.
- It extends from Tropopause to a height of about 50km.
Characteristics.
- No clouds and this allow great visibility.
- causes meteorites to burn up before hitting the surface.
- It serves as a protective layer.

- Temperature increases with an increase in height (temperature invasion or

negative lapse rate)

- Horizontal winds are almost parallel to the ground, which ensures fast and
smooth flying of aircrafts.
- Jet aircrafts fly through the lower part of the stratosphere due to easier flying
conditions.
- It contains the ozone layer, which absorbs ultra-violet rays from the sun.

- The top layer of stratosphere has a line that separates the stratosphere from
mesosphere called Stratopause.
- On Stratopause the temperatures are also constant (zero lapse rate)
The Mesosphere
- extends from Stratopause to a height of about 80 km.
Characteristics

20
- Temperature decreases with an increase in altitude (positive or normal lapse
rate).
- Ionization occurs in this layer.

- Reflection of radio waves sent from the earth’s surface occurs in this layer in
the D-zone.
- Experiences the strongest winds.
- The top part of mesosphere has constant temperature (zero lapse rate).
- It is separated from the thermosphere by Mesopause.
The Thermosphere
- Extends from 80km to over 400km above the earth’s surface.
Characteristics
- Extremely high temperatures that increase in altitude (negative lapse rate)

- Increase in temperature is caused by the ultra-violet radiation absorbed by

atomic oxygen.

- It facilitates communication through reflection of electromagnetic waves e.g.

radio signals.

- Vivid sheet like displays of light called (aurora australis in S.H) and (australis
borealis in N.H)
- contains ionosphere and exosphere
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ATMOSPHERE
- Act as a blanket and moderates surface temperatures on our planet.
- regulates the weather patterns and conditions.

- facilitates communication in the world through transmission of sound waves

and signals.

- supports and sustains life e.g. plants use carbon dioxide and animals use
oxygen.
- protects us from meteorites by burning them before they hit the surface.
IMPACT OF RAPID POPULATION GROWTH ON AIR/ATMOSPHERE
1. Air pollution.

21
- Industries keep increasing to manufacture products required by the growing
population.
- Hence the smoke from these industries pollute the atmosphere.

- Vehicles on the roads also release dangerous or poisonous fumes and gases
that pollute the air.
- People burn waste that releases poisonous fumes which pollute air.
2. Global warming

-Human being use machines that release dangerous gases into the air e.g. cars,
refrigerators and air conditioners release Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
- They also set bush fires which release carbon oxide that pollute the air.

- Greenhouse gases also pollute air and makes the world very hot because they
absorb the heat that is reflected back to the atmosphere.

- these greenhouse gases also destroy the ozone layer which protects us from
ultra violet light from the sun that can cause skin cancer and skin burns on our
body.

- Greenhouse gases and air pollution also lead to climate change in the world
(increased rainfall in humid regions leading to floods, landslides).
- High temperatures may lead to fast breeding of germs
WAYS OF MAINTAINING THE ATMOSPHERE
- Planting more trees (afforestation and re-afforestation)
- Educating the local communities on ways of keeping the environment safe.
- seeking solutions to control the depletion of the ozone layer.
- Conservation of available resources e.g. forests and sources of energy.
- Use more environmental friendly raw materials in industries.
- Proper disposal of wastes.
- Conserving water and other natural resources.
- Checking population growth.

22
 WEATHER AND CLIMATE

Weather is the condition of the atmosphere of a particular place for a short

period of time.

- It differs from one place to another, one place may be dry and sunny, while
another may be rainy.

Climate is the average weather condition of a particular place observed over a

long period of time (25-35 years).
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEATHER AND CLIMATE.

- Weather is observed within a short period of time while climate is observed

over a long period of time.

- Weather can involve a single element e.g. sunny while climate can involve
more than two elements e.g. dry and sunny.
IMPORTANCE OF WEATHER.
- Lowering the day’s temperature e.g. cloudy day.
- Water vapor in the air determines precipitation of an area

- Water vapor absorbs, reflects and scatters solar radiation hence regulates
temperature.
- helps people to plan for their activities properly.
- affects peoples food, dress type of houses built e.g. temperature
- gives life to plants and animals e.g. rainfall.
ELEMENTS OF WEATHER
- These may include: temperature rainfall, air pressure, wind, humidity, cloud
cover and sunshine.
MEASUREMENT OF ELEMENTS OF WEATHER.

23
- There are two main methods: Traditional and Modern Methods.
Traditional Methods
- Migration and sound production of certain birds and insects.
- flying insects (Ngumbi) indicates rainy
- shedding of tree leaves indicates beginning of dry season.
- Continuous croaking of frogs indicates rainy season.
- Appearance of thick dark clouds in the sky indicates raining.

- Excitement and fasting running of animals e.g. cows symbolize that it is about
to rain.
- White and very light clouds indicate no rain.
- Rainbow indicates that it would not rain.
Modern Methods

- These are scientific and better methods to give us accurate data and
prevailing conditions.
TEMPERATURE.
- It is how hot or cold something is.

- High temperatures are experienced on sunny cloudless days and low

temperatures are experienced on cloudy days and at night.
- It is measured by a thermometer in Degrees Celsius (0 C) or Kelvins (K).
- Lines drawn on the map to join places with equal amounts of average
temperature are known as isotherms.
Thermometers
i. Maximum Mercury Thermometer.
- It is filled with mercury and has a metal index.
- It measures maximum temperature of the day.
How it works?

- When temperature rises, mercury expands and pushes the metal index along
the tube.

24
- When the temperature drops, the mercury contracts and leaves the metal
index.

- The reading is obtained at the end of the index which was in contact with the
mercury.
- The reading in the fig. below is 200C.
- The index is drawn back to the mercury by a magnet.
Diagram.

ii. Minimum Alcohol Thermometer.

- It is filled with alcohol and has a metal index.
- It records minimum temperature of the day.
How it works?

- When temperature drops the alcohol contracts, its curved end (meniscus) pulls
the index down along the tube.
- When temperature rises, the alcohol expands and flows past the indicator.

- The minimum temperature of the day is obtained by reading the scale the
scale at the index near the meniscus.
- The temperature reading in fig. below is 180C.
Diagram

iii. Six’s thermometer.

25
- It is also called maximum and minimum thermometer because it measures
both maximum and minimum temperatures.
- It is a U-shaped glass tube filled with mercury and alcohol.
How it works?

- When temperature rises, it heats the alcohol (left limb) which expands and
pushes the mercury downwards, which then rises upwards in the right limb to
register high temperature. The maximum temperature in fig. below is 300C.

- When temperature drops, the alcohol in the left limb contracts allowing the
mercury to flow up.

- The minimum temperature is read on the scale of index that is in contact with
the Mercury.
- The minimum temperature in the fig. below is 100C.
Diagram

- Recording of the six’s thermometer are recorded in a table.

- The collected and recorded data is used for calculating the following:
a. Mean daily Temperature or average daily temperature
b. Diurnal range of temperature

26
 c. Mean monthly temperature
d. Mean annual temperature
e. Annual range of temperature.
FACTORS AFFECTING TEMPERATURE.
1. Altitude:
- It refers to a height above sea level.

- Temperature decreases with an increase in altitude (6oC every 1,000m), and

this trend is called environmental lapse rate.

- Highland areas experience low temperatures (Mzuzu, Dedza and Blantyre),

lowland areas experience high temperatures (Chikwawa, Mangochi and
Nsanje).
2. Latitude:
- It is distance of a place from the Equator.

- Lower latitudes receive more heat energy from the sun, hence areas close to
the equator or within the tropical belt experience high temperatures.

- Higher latitudes receive less heat energy from the sun, hence areas in
temperate and Polar Regions experience low temperatures.
3. Distance from the sea:
- The land heats up and cools down faster than a water body.

- During the day, the land heats up more rapidly as compared to sea water
hence land the land experiences high temperatures and the sea low
temperatures.

- During the night, the land cools up more rapidly as compared to sea water
hence land experiences low temperatures and the sea experiences high
temperatures.
4. Cloud cover:
- The greater the cloud cover, the lower the temperatures on the earth’s
surface.

- When there is no cloud cover in the sky, the earth’s surface experiences high
temperatures
5. Vegetation:

27
- There is cooling effect on the earth’s surface when there is a large vegetative
cover, hence low temperatures.

- When there is no vegetative cover on land, more energy from the sun will
reach the earth’s surface hence high temperatures.
6. Winds.

- Hot and dry conditions to the place they blow to, hence they raise the
temperatures of that area.
- Cold, moist winds also bring lower temperatures to the areas they blow to.
7. Length of the day.

- Longer days have greater amount of insolation hence raising temperatures

and shorter days have smaller amount of insolation hence lowering
temperatures.
HUMIDITY.
- It is amount of water vapor in the atmosphere.

- Absolute Humidity refers to the actual amount of water vapor in the given
volume of air.

- Relative Humidity refers to the ratio between absolute humidity of a given mass
of air and maximum amount of water vapor that it could hold at the same
temperature.

Relative Humidity =

- If the relative humidity and temperatures are high the air feels damp and
murky.
- Warm air hold more vapor than cold air.

- It is measured by hygrometer or wet and dry bulb thermometers in

percentages in percentages ( ).

- Hygrometer rely on measurements of some other quantity e.g. temperature,

pressure, mass or mechanical, or electrical change in a substance as moisture is
absorbed.
- Wet and dry bulb thermometer are kept in Stevenson’s scree
Wet Bulb thermometer

28
- It is covered by a wet muslin cloth which is dipped inside a container that has
water to keep it moist all the time.
- Evaporation takes place on the muslin cloth.
Dry Bulb thermometer

- This has no muslin cloth deliberately to give us the amount of vapor in the
atmosphere by subtracting its value from the wet bulb’s value.
Diagram

How the Hygrometer Works?

- When humidity is low (not 100 % of moisture), water evaporates from the muslin
cloth and this cools the bulb of the thermometer. This causes mercury to
contract showing a lower reading than that of the dry bulb. The temperature of
dry bulb is not affected in any way.

- When humidity is high (100 % full of moisture), evaporation does not take place
in the wet bulb and the readings in both thermometers will be the same.

- Humidity is normally higher in places that are near larger water bodies than in
areas that are far away from water bodies.

NB: The difference between the recordings show us the absolute humidity of the
air. When there is no difference in the readings of the two thermometers, it
means the air is saturated.

- Small difference denotes high humidity and large difference denotes low
humidity.
IMPORTANCE OF HUMIDITY
- Tells us the amount of heat that is held in the atmosphere.
- Tells us the amount of rain that can be received.

29
FACTORS THAT AFFECT HUMIDITY.
1. Cloud cover.
- Large cloud cover leads to high humidity because there is less evaporation.
- Small cloud cover leads to low humidity because there is high evaporation.
2. Amount of dust in the atmosphere.
- More dust in the space leads to high humidity because of larger cloud cover.
- Less dust in the space leads to low humidity because of smaller cloud cover.

NB: Dust particles in the atmosphere encourages cloud formation since water
molecules cling around them.
3. Temperature.

- The higher the temperature the higher the humidity due to high evaporation
rate.
- Low temperature leads to low humidity due to low evaporation rate.
4. Wind speed.
- High wind speed reduce humidity because it carries away water vapor.

- Low wind speed increases humidity because it allows air to hold more water
vapor.
5. Latitude.

- Areas near lower latitudes (equatorial belt) experience high humidity due to
high temperatures.
- Areas in higher latitudes experience low humidity.
6. Distance from the sea.

- Areas near large water bodies experience high humidity due to high
evaporation.

- Areas that are far away from large water bodies experience low humidity due
to low evaporation.
AIR PRESSURE / ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
- It is the weight exerted by air on any object on the earth’s surface.
- It is measured by a Barometer invented in 1643 by Galileo and Torricelli.

30
- There are two types of barometer, mercury and aneroid barometers.
- A barograph is also used to tell the air pressure of an area.
- It is measured in milliards (mb).

- All lines drawn on weather maps joining places of equal air pressure are called
isobars.
a. Mercury Barometer

- Made up of a glass tube that is one meter long open on one end and a
container.
- The tube is filled with mercury.
- Mercury is used because it is very dense and can be used within a short
column.

Advantage: it is accurate. Disadvantage: not good for outdoor

measurement
Diagram.

How it Works?

- When air pressure is high it presses the surface of mercury in a container

thereby rising in the column tube to register high pressure.

- When the air pressure is low it drops in the column tube to register low pressure
and rises in the container.

31
b. Aneroid Barometer
- It is made up of a flexible metallic box (aneroid cell).
- The box is a vacuum and is kept from collapsing by a spring.
- The spring connects the box to the pointer or indicator.

Advantage: good for outdoor measurement. Disadvantage: less

accurate
Diagram.

- When air pressure is high outside the box is high, the lead moves inwards, the
chain is pulled to the right and this also forces the pointer to move to the right
also to register high pressure.

- When air pressure is low the box lid moves outwards, and the indicator moves
to the left to register low pressure.
C. Barograph.

- It’s a type of aneroid barometer that has the ability to give readings and
recordings.
Diagram.

32
How it works?
- It has a pen which is attached to the pointer.
- The pen inks the paper that is fixed to a rotating drum.

- As the drum rotates, readings depending on the air pressure are taken on
continuous basis.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT AIR PRESSURE
Altitude:
- Air pressure is high on the earth surface and decreases as you go up.

- This is so because the weight of air is great on the earth surface than on higher
altitudes.
Temperature.
- High temperature leads to low pressure because its weight decreases.
- Low temperature leads to high pressure because its weight increases.
Humidity.

- Higher amount of water vapor in the air reduces its pressure due to its light
weight.
- Low Humidity leads to high air pressure because its weight is greater.
Rotation of the Earth.

- When the earth rotates, it deflects air from poles (low temperatures) towards
the equator (high temperatures) and the vice versa.

33
- These changes the pressure of air and water to be high on the poles due to
increase in weight and low at the equator due to the reduced weight.

- Rotation also makes the air to occupy greater space around the equator in so
doing its pressure decreases and occupy smaller space around the poles and in
so doing its pressure increases.

- It is the Coriolis force that is responsible for deflection of air, and it is created by
the earth’s rotation.
WIND
- It is air in motion.

- Prevailing wind refers to the wind that blows more frequently than any type of
wind in a particular area.
- Normally, winds blow from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure.
- Wind is named after the direction from which it is coming from.
a. Wind Direction

- The direction of wind is given by an instrument called wind Vane, wind rose
and windsock.
i. Wind Vane
- It is made up of a rotating arm with an arrow pivoted on a vertical shaft.
- The compass is also fixed on the vertical shaft.
How it works?
- The arrow of the arm points to direction where the wind is blowing from.
Diagram.

34
ii. Wind Rose
- It records wind direction for a particular place.

- It’s an octagonal (eight sided) chart and each side of the wind rose represents
a cardinal point.
How it works?

- A line is ruled across the rectangle representing the direction from which the
wind is blowing.

- The date is written in the correct rectangle indicating where the wind the wind
is blowing from.
- The number of calm days is indicated in the center of the circle, e.g. in our
case it is 3 calm days.
Diagram.

35
iii. Windsock
- It is used to show both the direction wind and its strength.
- Kept in the open, in places like airstrips and airports.
How it works?
- If the wind is strong, the windsock will be stretched out parallel to the ground.
- The sock cloth points where the wind is blowing to.

- If the wind is blowing gently, the windsock will be close to the shaft, an
indication that it is a gentle breeze.
Diagram.

36
b. Wind Speed.
- It is measured by a Cup anemometer.

- Metal cups are fixed to the ends of the arms which rotate from a central frame
when wind is blowing.

- All the cups face the same direction so as to capture and contain the wind
when it blows
Diagram.

37
How it works?

- When the wind is blowing the cups are filled with air and this forces them
rotate.
- A meter automatically reads and records the speed of wind in Km/hr.

- The stronger the Wind blows, the faster the rotation of the cups will be and vice
versa.
A Beaufort scale
- It is also used to give the speed of wind.

- The following chart shows you what it looks like and how you can get a
description of the speed of wind from it.

Scale Wind Wind description Observable effects of Wind.

Number speed
In Km/hr.
0 0 Calm Smoke rise vertically
1 1-3 Light air smoke Wind direction shown by the way.
drifts
2 4-6 Light breeze Rustling leaves, wind is felt on
face,

38
 wind vane moves
3 7 - 10 Gentle breeze Light flags blow out, twigs and
leaves move constantly.
4 11 - 16 moderate Dust and loose paper blow about,
small breeze branches are moved
5 17 - 21 Fresh breeze Small trees sway, crested waves
surface form on water.
6 22 - 27 Strong breeze Whistling on telegraph wires,
large branches move,
Umbrellas get blown.
7 28 - 33 Moderate gale Tree trunks sway, difficult to walk
against the wind
8 34 - 40 Fresh gale Twigs are broken off from trees
9 41 - 47 Strong gale Light damage to building.
10 48 - 55 Whole gale Trees uprooted,
Buildings get damaged.
11 56 - 63 Storm General and widespread
damage.
12 64 Hurricane Massive destruction.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT WIND.

a. Obstacles
- Vegetation and other infrastructures can block the path of wind.
b. Air pressure.
- The wind blows from an area of high pressure to an area of pressure.
- Therefore, air pressure affects then direction taken by wind.
c. Rotation of the earth.

- When the earth rotates, it creates Coriolis force which deflects air to the left in
the Southern Hemisphere and to the right in the Northern Hemisphere.
- This affects the direction and strength of wind.
SUNSHINE
- Refers to the rays that we receive on earth directly from the sun.
- It is measured by a Sunshine Recorder.
Diagram.

39
- It records the number of hours and minutes of sunshine that a certain area
receives per day.
- It is a spherical glass which is surrounded by a metal frame.

- There is a sensitized card inside the metal frame which is graduated in hours
and minutes.
HOW IT WORKS?

- When the sun shines, rays from the sun are focused onto the sensitized card by
spherical glass.
- Energy from the sun burns the trace on the card.
- When there is no sunshine burning does not take place.

- At the card is taken out and the length of the trace burned is turned into hours
and minutes.
- This represents the total amount of sunshine for the day.

NB: Lines drawn on topographic maps joining places of equal sunshine are
called isohyets.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE AMOUNT OF SUNSHINE.
1. Cloud cover

40
- The larger the clouds cover, the less the amount of sunshine will be measured
and recorded.

- The smaller the cloud cover, the larger the amount of sunshine will be
measured and recorded.
2. Amount of dust in the atmosphere.

- When there are more dust particles in the space, the amount of sunshine that is
measured and recorded is reduced and the vice versa.
3. Humidity.
- It can either increase or decrease the amount of sunshine.

- Water vapor absorbs heat from the sun and in-turn reduces the amount of
sunshine.
- Absence of water vapor will result into larger amount of sunshine.
4. Latitude.

- Areas within the tropics or close to the equator receive energy from the sun
hence high amount of sunshine will be measured and recorded than areas
around poles.
5. Aspect.

- The side of the mountain that faces the sun receives greater sunshine than the
opposite side.
- The flat land areas and steep/ hilly areas also receive sunlight differently.
6. Revolution of the Earth.

- It causes seasons which receive sunlight differently, other seasons will receive
greater intensity than others.
RAINFALL.
- It is a type of precipitation that falls on the earth from clouds in the sky.
- It is measured by a metal instrument called the rain gauge in mm.

- It consists of copper cylinder with a funnel of either 13 cm or 20 cm copper

container or glass bottle.

- The hole in the funnel that leads to the container is very small because
evaporation of collected rain is reduced.

41
Conditions of a Rain Gauge

- It is placed 305 mm above the ground and firmly fastened to avoid in-
splashing.

- It is also sited away from tall buildings, high trees and other high objects to
avoid water caught by these objects from entering the rain gauge. This water
can give wrong readings.
- It is made of copper or plastic because they do not rust.
How is it formed?

- Water vapor which goes into the space get cooled and condenses around
dust particles to form clouds.
- Once clouds become too heavy to remain suspended in the atmosphere, they
fall as rain on the earth or other forms of precipitation.
Forms of Precipitation.
- Drizzle: precipitation falling in smaller droplets than rainfall.
- Droplets (0.2 -0.5mm in diameter) drift or fall slowly towards the earth.

- Dew: formed when condensation occurs close to the ground on leaves, rocks,
etc.

- Fog: forms when moisture cools down and condenses to the dew point near
the ground.
- It affects visibility and one can see up to about 100 meters.

- Hail: forms when raindrops in the sky freeze and then fall to the earth as
crystals, ice or small pellets.
- Very destructive to crops and animals.

- Snow: forms when water vapor condenses and freezes below the freezing
point to form particles of ice.
How is Rainfall measured?
1. The funnel is removed from the cylinder.
2. The rain collected is emptied into a graduated cylinder which is 3.8cm.
3. The reading is done at the eye level and to an accuracy of 0.25mm.
Causes of Rainfall.

42
1. Rising Temperature.

- High temperature facilitates the evaporation of water vapor from the land and
water masses as well as leaves of vegetation (transpiration).
2. Condensation.

- The evaporated vapor gets cooled in the atmosphere and condenses around
dust particles.

- The cooling process is called adiabatical cooling because vapor cools below
its dew point and tiny water droplets start forming.
3. Amount of dust particles.

- Facilitate condensation and formation of water droplets because water

molecules cling around them.
4. Altitude.

- High altitude like Mountains force winds carrying moisture and vapor to rise
and condense to bring about rainfall on the windward side.
TYPES OF RAINFALL
a. Convectional Rainfall
- It usually comes in the afternoon.
- More evaporation takes place during morning hours.

- The vapor rises and cools to form a big cumulonimbus cloud which is anvil-
shaped.

- It is common in equatorial region and areas having monsoon climate because

the sun is direct overhead.
Characteristics.
- Thunder.
- Lightening
- Anvil-shaped cloud.
- Falls in the afternoon hours.
- It is accompanied by thunderstorm.
Diagram.

43
b. Cyclonic or Frontal or Depression Rainfall.

- It is formed after two air masses of different temperatures (warm and cold)
meet.

- It when this occurs warm air rises over the cold air mass and it cools gradually
to form a cloud which consequently brings rainfall.

- This takes place along the boundary line called the front and this is why it is
called the frontal rainfall.

- It is common throughout the doldrums (equatorial belt) where trade winds

meet.
Characteristics
- Need two contrasting air masses to form
- Common throughout the doldrums
- Commonly associated with trade winds.

44
Diagram.

c. Orographic or Relief.

- It is formed where on- shore winds rise up and over hilly or mountainous religions
lying at right angles to the direction of winds.

- The rising air over the wind ward side of the mountain cools and condenses to
form clouds.

- As the wind descends on the lee ward side, it becomes dry hence cannot
bear rain.

- It is common on the south east facing slopes of Nyika Plateau, Viphya plateau
and Mulanje mountain.
Characteristic
- Forms on the windward side of mountain.

45
Diagram.

FACTORS AFFECTING RAINFALL.

a. Global warming.

- It causes un-uniform distribution of rainfall because some areas are overheated

while others are not.
- Some areas receive heavy rainfall while others will receive little or no rainfall.

- Sometimes there is high evaporation but the vapor fails to condense due to
high temperatures.
b. Vegetation.
- Large vegetative cover brings about heavy rainfall than bare grounds.
- Vegetation transpires vapor into the atmosphere.
c. Cloud Cover.

- Heavy rain bearing cloud cover leads to a lot of rainfall than light cloud cover
or clear sky.
d. Latitude.

46
- High rate of evaporation in lower latitudes e.g. equatorial belt leads to high
rainfall than in lower latitudes.
e. Distance from the sea.

Land adjacent to the large water body experience a greater amount of rainfall
than areas that are further inland.
f. Aspect or Relief.

- Windward side of mountains receive a lot of rainfall due to the rising of warm
moist winds than on the leeward side of mountains due to descending cool dry
air.
CLOUDS
- Are a combination of tiny water droplets that result from condensation of
water vapor when it cools below its dew point.
CLASSIFICATION:
High clouds.
- Exist between 6 000m to 12 000m.
- Three types of high clouds are cirrus, cirrocumulus and cirrostratus.
i. Cirrus (Ci): - slight and fibrous looking, thin and white.
- Indicate fine weather
ii.Cirrocumulus (CC): - thin, icy white appear as globular masses.

- Has similar appearance of fish scales hence mackerel

sky.
iii. Cirrostratus (CS): - look like a thin white sheet

- cause the sun and the moon to have haloes (white

light circles)
- Milky sky appearance.
Medium Clouds.
- Found between 2100m and 6000m.
- Two types of these clouds are Altocumulus and Altostratus.

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 - Whitish or greyish patches or sheets.
- Wavy look like rounded rolls or masses.
- Characterized by thunderstorms.
ii. Altostratus (Alt-St) - greyish in color and watery appearance.
- More denser than altocumulus.
- Have layered or puffy look and fibrous structure.
- Indicates that it will rain.
Low Clouds.
- Occur below 2100 meters.
- The three types are Stratocumulus, Nimbostratus, and Stratus.
i. Stratocumulus - Have bumps rolling at a low level.
- Have pronounced wary form
- Brighter parts and shaded parts have great contrast.
ii. Nimbostratus - Dark clouds often layered in grey color.
- Spread out across the sky without any shape.
- Bring a lot of rains.
iii. Stratus - Look like fog near the ground.
- Appear in layers.
- Bring dull weather associated with drizzles.
Cloud of great extent - Exist between 1,500 meters to 9000m.
- The two types are Cumulus and cumulonimbus.
i. Cumulus - Puffy and have round tops and flat bases.
- Whitish grey look and appear in masses.
- Experienced I tropical regions where humidity is high.
- Produce fine weather.
ii. Cumulonimbus. - Black and white globular appearance.
- Cauliflower-like top with an anvil shape.

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 - Common in tropics in the afternoon hours.

- Associated with thunder and lighting and heavy

rainfall.
HOW CLOUD COVER AFFECT WEATHER
- It reduces day temperatures and raises night temperatures.

- This is so because it absorbs heat during the day and retain it for use during the
night.

- It also prevent heat loss from the lower layer of the air, hence night
temperatures remain higher even if the sky is clear.

- Cloud cover brings rainfall in the area if clouds become oversaturated and
can no longer remain suspended in the space.

- Fear weather and high temperatures are associated with light cloud cover and
the vice versa.
- Large cloud cover means it is likely to rain.
MEASURING AND RECORDING CLOUD COVER.
- It is recorded by a weather map.

- It shows the state of the weather for a specific date and time for a country or
region.
- It also include all other elements of weather.
- The amount of cloud cover is estimated in units called Oktas.

- One octa represent of the sky covered with cloud.

- Lines drawn on the topographical map showing places of equal cloud cover
are called Isonephs.

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- Above are symbols used to show cloud cover.
THE STEVENSON SCREEN BOX

- It is a box with louvered (slatted) sides which is used to hold thermometers and
other weather instruments.
- It is painted white to reflect direct sunlight

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- It is slatted or louvered to allow free circulation of air.

- It is placed at least 1.2m above the ground because ground temperatures are
higher than air temperatures.

- The opening part of the box faces south to allow direct sunshine not to shine
into the screen when one opens it.
POINTS TO NOTE
Sea Breeze

- Occurs during the day because the air moves from an area of high pressure
(sea) to an area of low pressure (land). The land temperature is higher than the
sea during Day time.

Land Breeze

- Occurs during the night because at this time the land becomes an area of
high pressure due to cold temperatures and the sea becomes the area of low
pressure due to high temperatures. Hence, the air moves from the land to the
sea.

INTERPRETING WATHER DATA

Temperature.

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a. Mean Diurnal Temperature (Average Daily)

- Maximum and minimum temperatures divide by two:

Time 8am 9am 10am 11am 12noon 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm
Temp. (0C) 18 24 22 19 17 16 23 26 24

-Therefore, Mean daily temp will be: 260C + 160C ÷ 2

= 420C ÷ 2
= 210C
b. Diurnal Range of Temperature
- Daily Maximum temperature minus Daily Minimum Temperature
- Therefore, this will be 260C - 160C = 100C
c. Mean Monthly Range
- Highest Mean Monthly Temperature minus Lowest Mean Monthly Temperature
d. Mean Monthly Temperature
- Daily mean temperature in a month divide by Number of days in that month
e. Mean Annual Temperature
- The sum of mean monthly temperature for the year divide by 12

f. Annual Temperature range

- Highest mean monthly temperature in a year minus Lowest mean monthly
temperature.

BIOSPHERE
- The word Bio means life.
- Therefore, the term biosphere is the part of the earth which consist of living
things.
- It ranges from the earth surface to a height of 10 km above.
COMPONENTS OF THE BIOSPHERE AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP.
- These are as follows: Atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere.
Atmosphere.

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- Its 11 km above the earth’s surface.
- consists of gases like; oxygen 21%, nitrogen 78%, and 0.03% carbon dioxide.
Functions
- provide necessary gases for metabolic processes e.g. respiration.
- giving the sky its blue color through deflecting the blue and violet rays.
- determines weather conditions e.g. storm, lightning etc.
Hydrosphere.
- It is the layer of the earth containing water e.g. oceans, trees, seas,
underground water, lakes etc.
Functions.
- provides habitat for aquatic animals.
- forms 75 % of the body of living organisms.
- support many human activities e.g. farming, H.E.P, industrial use, domestic uses
etc.
Lithosphere.
- It is the solid part of the earth that surrounds the mantle.
- It is also called the crust.
- It is made up of continental and oceanic crusts.
Functions.
- Provide minerals that support life.
- Support human activities like agriculture, construction etc.
- Provides home of animals.
Components of the biosphere and the circulation of materials in the ecosystem.
Producers (green Plants)

Environment Consumers
(Soil, air and water) (Animals)

Reducers (bacteria & fungi

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- The Environment supports the producers which in turn provide food for animals.

- When animals and plants die they decompose by the activities of bacteria
and fungi.
IMPORTANCE OF THE BIOSPHERE
- help to bring about rainfall. (Plants through transpiration)
- improves soil fertility. (Animal droppings)
- Source of income through tourism.
- Vegetation purifies air by releasing oxygen and using carbon dioxide.
- provides water for the survival of living organisms.
-source of food to living organisms.
- provides timber for charcoal, firewood, furniture etc.
- Provision of energy in the environment.
- facilitates pollination.
PROBLEMS AFFECTING THE BIOSPHERE.

-Overstocking and overgrazing, poor methods of agriculture, deforestation,

dumping wastes anyhow, pollution of the environment just mention a few
destroy components of biosphere.
WAYS OF MAINTAINING THE BIOSPHERE.
Afforestation: planting trees where there are no trees.
Reforestation: planting trees where they have cut down.

Creating conservation areas: for example; game reserves, national parks, forests
etc.

Civic Education: sensitize the public about the importance of caring the
environment.

Controlling bush fires: creating fire breaks around the forests and discouraging
human habitation near forests.
Observing closed season: prohibition of overfishing and the use of very small
nets in water sources.
Creating fish ponds: this will conserve fish species and increase their numbers.

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Checking population growth: this can reduce pressure on the natural resources
in biosphere.

Practicing proper methods of farming: e.g. crop rotation, planting cover crops,
terracing and contour ploughing.

Agroforestry: trees and crops grown on the same area to improve soil structure
and fertility.

Adopting alternative sources of energy: this include H.E.P, solar to avoid

depending on firewood and charcoal.

ENVIRONMENT
-It is the total surrounding of living and non-living things.
COMPONENTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT.

1. Physical or natural environment

2. Human or social environment.
Physical environment

- It contains natural features which occurred naturally e.g. water, vegetation,

rocks, mountains, minerals etc.
Classes of Natural Environment.
a. lithosphere: solid part of the earth.
b.Hydrosphere: the part consisting of water.
c. Atmosphere: layer containing various gases.
d.Biosphere: part containing all living things on earth.
Human Environment.

- Consists of things made by human beings e.g. roads, buildings, bridges, roads,
vehicles etc.
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE COMPONENTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT.

- Decomposed leaves of trees provide manure in the soil so that plants grow
well.
- Vegetation prevents soil erosion by holding soil particles together.

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-Vegetation also provides shade to the soil hence preventing evaporation,
hence help in retaining water in the soil to be used by plants.
- Plants provide food for animals and animals provide manure to these plants.

- Plants provide oxygen to animals for respiration and animals in turn provide
carbon dioxide to plant for photosynthesis.
- Land provide nutrients to plants and plants add humus in the soil.

- Land provide habitat for some animals and animals add humus in the soil
through the dung.

- Vegetation contributes to the formation of rainfall and rainfall provides water

for the growth of plants.
- Water provides habitat for aquatic animals (fish, crocodiles, snakes) and plants
(planktons).
IMPORTANCE OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT.
Water.
- used for food making in plants.
- used for domestic purposes.
- Habitat of aquatic animals.
- Generation of H.E.P and used in farming.
- Keeps the food fresh for longer period.
- Transportation to other areas.
- Acting as solvent to dissolve minerals required by plants.
Land.
- Provide minerals which are used for various purposes.
- Mountains act as source of rivers.
- Provide anchorage to all plants.
- Habitat to some animals.
- Used as a main agricultural resource.
- Provides sites for tourism attraction.
- Place for construction of infrastructures.

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Vegetation.
- Source of medicine
- Source of timber.
- Source of paper.
- Source of firewood.
- Tourism attraction.
- provides food for animals.
- protects soil from erosion.
- purifies air and contributes to the formation of rainfall.
Air.
- used in respiration and photosynthesis.
- used in pollination.
- Facilitates in the transmission of sound.
- Facilitates burning/combustion (oxygen)
- Generation of energy using windmills.
- facilitates movement using parachutes, aircrafts, jets etc.
- Drying clothes after they have been washed.

ECOSYSTEM
Ecosystem: a community of interdependent organisms and the environment in
which they live in.
Ecology: the study of organisms in relation to the natural environment.
Bio-system: a variety of living organisms and species found in an ecosystem.
COMPONENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM.
Biotic or living things.
- It consists of plants, insects and animals as well as their remains, products or
wastes.
Abiotic or non-living things.

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- It consists of sunlight, temperature, precipitation water or moisture, soil or water
chemistry.
HOW COMPONENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM ARE INTERELATED?
- Plants manufacture food using light form the sun, water and carbon dioxide
released by animals during respiration.
- Animals depend on plants for food and oxygen which is released by plants
during photosynthesis.
- The soil provide nutrients to plants and plants in turn add nutrients in the soil
when they decompose.
- The soil also provide habitat to some animals like mice, ants etc. and these
animals improves soil aeration when they make tunnels and soil fertility due to
the dung they release in the soil.
- Water provide home to some animals like fish and make 75% of animal’s body.
- Vegetation provide habitat for animals and purifies air for animals to breathe.
- Vegetation brings rainfall through transpiration hence contributing to the
existence of water in an ecosystem.
- Plants and animals depend on water for their growth, without water they
cannot survive.
NB: photosynthesis depends on respiration and respiration in turn depends on
photosynthesis.
FACTORS THAT CAN DISTURB THE ECOSYSTEM
Deforestation.
- When trees are cut down, soil erosion is encouraged, animals suffer because
there is no food for them, rainfall is also affected due to the reduced
transpiration rate, air purification is interfered, and habitat of wild animals is also
destroyed.
Bushfires.
- Destroy habitat of animals, kill micro-organisms in the soil, kill animals and
plants, reduce the concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere and increases
carbon dioxide in the air, affect the food chains and webs etc.
Poaching.
- Illegal killing of animals in protected areas, reduce amount of carbon dioxide
in the air hence affecting photosynthesis.
- It also reduces the amount of manure which improve soil fertility.

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- It also eliminates species of animals making them extinct.
Water Pollution.
- It destroys habitat of aquatic animals and kills aquatic life and other animals
which drink the polluted water hence affecting food chain.
Poor farming Practices.
- They destroy soil, vegetation, and water resources in the ecosystem.
- They also affect ecological balance, food supply, oxygen supply, and
photosynthesis etc.
WAYS OF MAINTAINING THE ECOSYSTEMS
1. Afforestation: planting trees on bare ground.
2. Reforestation: planting trees where trees are cut down.
- Both of them increase concentration of oxygen and reduces the
accumulation of carbon dioxide in the air.
3. Civic education: teaching people on how to take care of the environment
and the importance of conserving the ecosystem.
4. Competition aimed at protecting the environment: organizing competitions
aiming at protecting wild life, water, air etc.
5. Establishing conservation areas: creating national parks, game reserves, forest
reserves to protect animals and plants.
6. Proper methods of agriculture: intercropping, cultivating across the slope,
mixed farming, agroforestry will help to protect vegetation and soil hence
ensuring constant supply of oxygen and food.
7. Checking population growth: this will reduce pressure on the resources in an
ecosystem hence enabling them to be conserved.
8. Providing alternative sources of energy: solar energy, wind energy and others
to substitute the use of charcoal and firewood.
IMPORTANCE OF THE ECOSYSTEM.
- Source of foreign exchange earnings through tourism, exportation of timber
etc.
- Encourage tourism both local and international through the biodiversity in the
ecosystems
- Source of food; animals provide proteins and plants provide food to both
animals and human beings.

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- Plant, water and Soil provide habitat for animals.
- Purification of air through respiration and photosynthesis.
- Animals provide manure to the soil through the dung.
- Plants also provide manure when leaves fall and rot in the soil.
- Source of rainfall through transpiration in vegetation.
- Water provides H.E.P., transportation through sailing on it.
-They preserve genetic diversity and provide recreation for us all.
- They lock up carbon.
- They supply crop pollination, seed dispersal, and pest and disease control.
- They regulate nutrient recycling and waste.
NATURAL RESOURCES.
- These are things that are provided by nature such as the sun, vegetation, soil,
wind and water.
TYPES OF NATURAL RESOURCES.
a. Renewable: resources that can replace themselves after being used.
- Examples: solar energy, land, soil, water, plants and animals.
Way of renewing some natural resources.
- Water: through recycling, afforestation and reforestation
- Air: through afforestation and reforestation.
- Forests: afforestation and reforestation.
- Fish: fish farming.
Animals: Reproduction.
b. Non-Renewable: resources that cannot replace themselves after being used.
- Examples: minerals, fossil fuels, natural gas, coal etc.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RENEWABLE AND NON-RENEWABLE.
Renewable resources Non-renewable resources
Replace themselves once used Cannot replace themselves once
used
Not affected by human activities Affected by human beings
Higher rate of decomposition than Lower rate of decomposition than

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their rate of consumption. their rate of consumption.
They are inexhaustible They are exhaustible.

IMPORTANCE OF NATURAL RESOURCES.

- Source of income to the people.
- Source of food.
- source of raw materials e.g. minerals.
- Habitat for wild animals.
- Source of energy e.g. fossil fuels.
- Purification of air and bringing rainfall.
- Tourists attraction.
- Water for transportation and recreation activities.
HOW NATURAL RESOURCES ARE BEING MISMANAGED IN MALAWI?
- Poaching: illegal killing of wild animals due to the high demand for meat, horns
and skins of these animals.
- Poor waste disposal: wastes such as glass, plastic and metal do not break
down easily as a result they are buried or dumped into water masses or open
places where they become health hazard.
- Overfishing: catching immature fish, catching fish during breeding season,
catching fish using poisonous herbs e.g. katupe, or catching fish at a rate that is
faster than they can reproduce and replenish themselves.
- This is due to high demand by the growing population.
- Poor farming practices: deforestation, overstocking, overgrazing, cultivating
along river banks and riding along the slope destroy the vegetation and leaves
the land bare.
- Deforestation: it destroys the habitat of animals, disturbs hydrological cycle,
disrupt the ecosystem.
- Bushfires: destroy the soil, kill microbes in the soil and animals in the bush as well
as destroying the habitat.
EFFECTS OF MISMANAGEMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES.
- Poaching lead to extinction of wild animals which in turn affect the tourism.
- poaching also disturbs ecological balances.

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- Poor waste disposal pollutes the air, water and land in the environment hence
high rate of disease outbreak.
-overfishing: leads to extinction of fish, reduction of proteins, affecting tourism.
- Poor agriculture methods: they may result into soil erosion and siltation of water
reservoirs.
Deforestation: leads to soil erosion, reduction in oxygen and increase of toxic
gases in the air.
-They also lead to extinction due to the destroyed habitats and affects rainfall of
an area.
Bush fires: destroy soil fertility leading to poor crop yields, run off can also
increase resulting into flooding, destroy living things leading to ecological
imbalance and destroy habitats of animals.
WAYS OF MANAGING NATURAL RESOURCES.
a. Civic Education: awareness campaigns about the dangers of destroying
natural resources.
- People should know that deforestation and poor farming practices destroy the
soil, water cycle, habitat of animals etc.
b. Demonstration projects: They teach people how best to take care of the
available natural resources. Each project is aimed at protecting a certain
natural resource.
c. Competition: government, NGO’s and other institutions can organize
competitions aimed at protecting natural resources in the environment.
- Prizes can be attached to these competitions to encourage people to
participate and in so doing resources will be protected.
d. Establishing protected areas: creating National parks, game reserves and
forest reserves where wild life will be protected from destruction.
e. Checking population growth: this will help to minimize the production of
wastes and also reduce the depletion of resources.
f. Recycling: many industries recycle usable materials like copper, scrap and
iron, papers to save natural resources.
g. Alternative to sources of energy: finding other sources of energy rather than
depending much on charcoal, firewood and other natural resources.
- People can use solar, wind, H.E.P forms of energy to mitigate the depletion of
natural resources.

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h. Afforestation and reforestation: these will help to manage soil, water and
vegetative resources. They also help to manage air and ecological balances.
IMPORTANCE OF NATURAL RESOURCES.
- Source of income, food, raw materials, energy etc.
- They encourage tourism and in turn bring foreign exchange.
- Forests, soil and water serve as the habitat of animals.
- Vegetation purifies air.
- They sustain life of people, animals and plants e.g. air, water.

NATURAL DISASTERS
- A Disaster is something that happens suddenly and causes much suffering or
loss to the many people.
- A Natural Disaster is defined as the consequences of events triggered by
natural hazards that lead to deaths and injuries to people and animals.
- Examples of Natural Disasters are floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes,
tsunamis, etc.
- They also cause damage to property.
- A Risk is any source of danger or the possibility of incurring loss or misfortune.
- Vulnerability means susceptibility to injury or attack.
- Hazard is an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that cause an event
to result one way rather than another.
- Example of Natural hazards are droughts, flash floods, droughts, tropical storms,
lightning, thunder, cyclones and blizzards (snow storms caused by strong winds)
SIMILARITY AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NATURAL DISASTERS AND NATURAL
HAZARDS.
Similarities
- Both of them are caused by nature.
- Both of them cause damages.
Differences
- Natural disasters may include death, injuries of animals, loss of property and
financial or environmental loss.

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- Natural disasters render effects on the environment.
- Natural hazards on the other hand, are natural threats that exist in nature.
- Natural hazards may lead to disasters.
- Natural hazards become Natural disasters when people’s lives and livelihoods
are destroyed.
TYPES OF NATURAL DISASTERS.
a. Climatic Disasters.
- caused by extreme weather conditions such as flash floods, cold spells,
tornadoes, cyclone, hurricanes, lightning and heat waves.
i. Flash floods: short lived floods characterized by sudden rise of water in rivers.
ii. Cold spells: a spell of cold weather in the environment.
iii. Tornado: localized a violently destructive windstorm occurring over the land.
- It is characterized by a funnel- shaped cloud extending toward the ground.
iv. Cyclone: strong storms generated by a low pressure body of air.
v. Hurricane: a tropical cyclone usually with heavy rains and winds.
vi. Lightning: a flash of light that accompanies an electric discharge in the
atmosphere.
vii. Heat waves: waves of unusually hot weather.
b. Environmental Disasters.
- caused by the mismanagement of resources in the environment by the
people.
- for example; desertification, acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer, soil erosion,
soil degradation, pollution, epidemic diseases etc.
c. Geomorphological and Geological Disasters
- caused by earth’s movements, e.g. avalanches, earthquakes, earth tremors,
volcanic eruptions and landslides
i. Avalanches: sliding down of melting ice block on a steep slope causing a lot
of damages and injuries.
ii. Earthquakes: sudden movements or vibrations in the earth crust.
iii. Earth tremors: mild sudden earth movements or vibrations in the crust.
iv. Volcanic eruption: coming out of magma from the earth’s crust.

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v. Landslides: sliding down of soil particles which become loose on a steep slope
due to high rainfall.
NB: avalanches and landslides occur as the mass movement whereby there is
large movement of large quantities of mud, snow, soil or rock as influenced by
gravity.
d. Biological Disasters.
- caused by plants (floral) and animals (faunal).
EFFECT OF SOME NATURAL DISASTERS.
- There is demand for relief items when a disaster strikes.
- They destroy the resources in the environment
- They also kill a lot of people and cause damage to properties as well as make
people homeless.
- Interferes and interrupts social activities and normal operations e.g. education,
trading, business etc.
- They spread disease like cholera, typhoid, malaria e.g. floods.
- Loss of livelihoods e.g. loss of jobs like farming etc.
- They also lead to pollution in the environment
- They destroy buildings and infrastructures e.g. earthquakes and volcanoes
- They also affect people’s psychology due to deaths of loved ones, loss of
properties etc.
DIASASTER RISK MANAGEMENT.
- It is an ongoing process by which the government and other parties plan for
and reduce the impacts of disasters.
Stages of disaster risk management.
a. Recovery.
- includes decisions and actions taken after a disaster has strike the area.
- It involves Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Rescue services (R3)
- Ways of Recovering may include the following:
i. cleaning and disinfecting any affected material
ii. Provision of psycho-socio support to children and traumatized persons.

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iii. Returning to the area which was affected only if the authorities have
indicated that it is safe.
iv. Replanting crops in all affected areas.
v. stay away from ESCOM power lines.
vi. Stay out of any building surrounded by flood waters.
vii. Mobilize resources for rehabilitation.
viii. Rebuilding the damaged infrastructure.
b. Risk Identification assessment
- It is carried out to investigate the extent of damage the disaster has caused.
- It involves hazard analysis and monitoring, vulnerable analysis and
determination of risk.
c. Prevention and Mitigation.
- These are measures which are undertaken to ensure that every possible
precaution is put in place in the event of other future occurrences.
-They may include the following:
i. monitoring and recording the levels of water in rivers and earthquake waves or
shocks regularly.
ii. Moving to higher grounds and settling in safer positions.
iii. Listening to radios or televisions or reading newspapers for information.
iv. Storing items to be used when disasters strike.
v. constructing tall and strong buildings.
vi. Civic education to the public to raise awareness.
vi. Harvesting rainwater.
vii. Recycling waste matters.
viii. Carrying out research on other areas which have been affected by
disasters.
ix. Discouraging people from dropping cigarettes that have not completely
been put out.
x. Having well equipped fire-fighting units.
xi. Avoid burning bushes as a means of hunting and land clearing.

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d. Preparedness and Response
- It ensures that in case of a future disaster, the response will be effective and
timely to minimize the effects anticipated.
- Response involves the provision of emergency services and public assistance
during or immediately after a disaster in order to save lives.
- They may include the following:
i. civic education
ii. Early warnings in the event of disasters.
iii. Temporary evacuation of people in disaster prone areas.
iv. Researching on and studying other disaster areas.
POPULATION
- The word population means the total number of living organisms in an area.
SOME TERMS IN POPULATION.
i. Population Density: number of people per unit area.
ii. Push factors: factors that force people out of an area.
iii. Pull Factors: factors that attract people in an area.
iv. Population distribution: the spread out of people in an area.
v. Immigration: the coming of people into an area.
vi. Emigration: the going out of people from an area.
vii. Birth Rate: number of live births per 1000 (crude birth rate) in a year.
Viii. Death rate: number of deaths per 1000 (crude death rate) in a year.
ix. Census: the counting of people in an area.
x. Carrying capacity: the number of organisms that can be supported by the
environment.
xi. Life expectancy; the amount of time an organism is expected to live.
- It is affected by race, ethnic groupings, age and sex.
xii. Sex ratio: the number of males per 100 females.
xiii. Natural Increase: it occurs when there are more births than deaths.
xiv. Population Composition; the difference in proportion of people that make
up the population in terms of ethnic groupings, race, age and sex.

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xv. Dependency ratio: it is the ratio between those in the non-economically
active age group and those in the economically active age group.
- It is higher in developing countries than in developed countries due to high
birth rates.
xvi. Population size: total number of people in a country.
xvii. Sex structure: the proportion of men to women.
POPULATION COMPOSITION.
Population Structure
- It refers to the composition of a population in terms of sex and age.
- Population data is best represented by population or age-sex pyramids.
- This enables one to establish the characteristics of the population such as
proportion of male to female members, dependency ratio, birth rates, mortality
rates, life expectancy, effects of migration, the age and the sex of migrants as
well as the effects of war and major epidemics.
- When describing the structure of an age sex pyramid use the terms base, waist
and the top.
- The base can be either narrow or broad.
- The waist can have a bulge or could be narrow.
-The top could taper out or be very wide.
POPULATION STRUCTURE OF MALAWI.

- The age-sex pyramid has several characteristics.

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i. it has a very broad (wide) base which shows a very high birth rate and low
death rate and infant mortality.
- This means that the country has a very large young population.
ii. The bars become smaller rapidly upwards showing high mortality rate.
iii. The graph tapers out showing that people have a very short or low life
expectancy; very few people live beyond 55 years of age.
iv. The population has a very high dependency ratio especially in the age group
0-19 years.
v. The population of male and female members of the population is almost
equal in all the ages.
vi. There is a rapid fall as we move upwards in the population, showing high
mortality rates.
THE POPULATION STRUCTURE OF COUNTRY Q

- The population structure of the country Q is the population of the developed

country such as Britain.
- It has the narrow base indicating low birth rates, low death rates and low infant
mortality rate.
- It broadens rapidly upwards showing reduced mortality rates.
- The widening of the graph could also be as result of relatively high birth rates
and low death rates.
- It could also be as a result of high migration rates into the country.

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- The top is very wide because high life expectancy.
- More people live to an older age, hence large ageing population.
- The country has a very small youthful population.
- It has a very high dependency ratio involving the elderly but very low
dependency involving the youth.
COMPOSITION OF POPULATION AT DISTRICT AND REGIONAL LEVELS.
- It varies according to the resources and services available in each area and
other reasons.
- it can be described in terms of its ethnic groupings (Lomwe, chewa, Tumbuka,
Senga etc), race (Europeans, Americans, Asians etc), age (0-4, 5-9, 10-14 etc.)
and sex (Males, Females)
POPULATION COMPOSITION OF A SCHOOL.
- It consists of boys, girls, male and female teachers as well as workers.
- These are also of different age groups, ethnic groups and races.
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE POPULATION DISTRIBUTION OF AN AREA.
a. Natural or Physical
i. Soil.
- Fertile soils have large populations e.g. plains, river banks, dambos for
agriculture.
ii.Relief.
- Flat areas accommodate more people than steep or hilly areas.
- Flat areas are good for settlement, mechanization and other constructions.
b. Climate
- Areas with good temperature and those that receive good rainfall are densely
populated.
- Such areas attract people for agricultural purposes.
c. Biotic Factors
- Areas with a lot of tsetse flies, mosquitoes, black flies have low population
because such insects cause diseases among people and livestock.
d. Social-political factors.

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-The government can create forest and game reserves in an area e.g.
Chikangawa, Kasungu national park, Nkhota Kota Game reserve, and such
areas will make people to move away from them and cluster in other areas.
- The government can evacuate people from an area in order to do some
construction work on the site.
- The provision of new services by the government e.g. roads, railway lines,
growth centers can also attract people to settle in such areas.
- Peace and unity in an area make such areas densely populated.
e. Demographic Factors.
- Emigration resulting from push factors such as drought, famine, floods, and
wars leads to sparse population in the areas where people are originating from
while the host areas (Immigration) often end up having large population
because of pull factors such as peace and calm, availability of food and social
services
- Social services that attract people into an area are as follows:
i. better education facilities
ii. Job opportunities
iii. Good health services.
iv. Investment and Business opportunities etc.
f. Economic factors.
- Areas with agricultural and development activities (estates), Employment
opportunities and commercial facilities are densely populated.
HOW POPULATION DISTRIBUTION INFLUENCES ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES.
- Government, Non-Governmental resources and religious institutions tend to
allocate more social services in areas with more people.
- Areas with more people receive more social services than areas with few
people.
CALCULATING POPULATION DENSITY AND NATURAL INCREASE
- Natural increase is calculated as follows:
Natural increase = Total number of birth – Total number of deaths
- Population Density is calculated by using the following formulae.

Population density =

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FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE POPULATION DENSITY IN A GIVEN AREA
a. Employment opportunities
- Areas with job opportunities tend to have dense populations.
b. Soil fertility.
- Areas with fertile soils have more population than those with poor soils.
c. Urbanization.
- Better social services in towns and cities tend to attract more people and
make these areas highly urbanized.
d. Accessibility.
- Presence of good transport and communication facilities tend to attract more
people.
e. Relief.
- Flat land areas are densely populated than steep areas.
f. Favorable climate.
- Areas with good climate are preferred by most people and thus have higher
population density.
EFFECTS OF POPULATION DENSITY ON RESOURCES
- Overcrowding in schools, hospitals etc.
- Poverty among people since the majority are not employed.
- Environmental degradation due to deforestation, soil erosion, desertification
etc.
- Pollution (water, air, Noise) and poor disposal of wastes becomes a problem in
densely populated areas.
- Failure of the environment to support the available population.
- The government uses a lot of resources to meet the needs of the people.
- The land becomes scarce resource.
- High crime rates.
- Mismanagement of resources becomes very high and leads to over-
exploitation.
EFFECTS OF LOW POPULATION ON RESOURCES

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- Underutilization of resources
- Decline in agricultural production
- Reduced air, water, noise pollution.
- Reduced labour force.
- Decreased crime rates and insecurity.
POPULATION GROWTH.
- It refers to the increase or decrease of the population in a particular area.
- It may be influenced by the natural increase, the net migration etc.
- Positive population growth is when birth rates are higher than death rates or
immigration is higher than emigration.
- Negative population growth is when death rates are higher than birth rates or
emigration is higher than immigration.
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE POPULATION GROWTH.
a. High Fertility rates
- High fertility rates result in high population growth rates.
- Fertility is the ability of a woman to give birth to a live child.
- Fertility rate is the number of live births per woman by the time the period of
child bearing comes to an end.
- High fertility rates are caused by early marriages, increased adolescent
pregnancies, the belief that children are source of wealth, giving birth to many
children as a security against death.
b. Mortality (Death) rates.
- It reduces the number of people in a population and also affects its
composition in terms of age and sex rations
- People usually die of three causes, namely: old age, diseases, war and
accidents.
- Death rates in many parts of the world have become lower because of:
i. Improved personal hygiene, nutrition and sanitation.
ii. Improved medical care.
iii. Provision of clean water supply.
iv. Law and order have reduced tribal clashes and civil wars.

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v. Control of disaster and epidemics.
vi. Better living standards hence many people can afford good diet and
medication.
vii. Immunization of children.
c. Migration.
- Permanent or semi-permanent change of a person’s place of residence.
- When people are migrating the population of the areas of origin decrease
while the areas that are moving into, increase.
- They may migrate due to economic, physical or political or social reasons.
POPULATION CHANGE.
- It is the difference between the sizes of the population at the end and at the
beginning of a period of any given society.
- Positive effect of population change is that there is a large labour force which
will also lead to industrial and trade development.
- Negative effect of population change is that there is high pressure on the
resources.
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE POPULATION CHANGE.
a. Birth Rate
- It influences population change when it is either high or low.
b. Death Rate
- The population may change when it is high or low.
c. Migration.
- When people move into an area, the population of the places of origin
changes by dropping while destination areas the population change by
increasing.
POPULATION GROWTH RATE.
i. Rapid growth rate
- experienced when birth rates are high than death rates.
ii. Slow growth rate.
- Both birth rates and death rates are low e.g. in Britain.
iii. Zero growth rate.

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- Birth rates are equal to death rates (stable population growth).
iv. Negative growth rate.
- Birth rates are lower than death rates (declining population).
CAUSES OF NATURAL DECREASE
- It is a situation where death rates exceed birth rates.
- It may be caused by:
i. Epidemics e.g. HIV/AIDS, Ebola etc.
ii. Natural Hazards e.g. floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes
iii. Severe drought that may lead to severe lack of food.
iv. Pests and diseases e.g. locusts may destroy crops.
v. Civil wars in a country.
POPULATION EXPLOSION.
- Sudden rapid population growth in an area as a result of a marked decrease
in death rate and an increase in birth rate.
CAUSES OF POPULATION EXPLOSION.
- High fertility rates
- Reduced mortality rates.
- High rate of immigration into the country.
OVERPOPULATION.
- It is when there is excessively high population in relation to potential resources
in the area at a given time.
CAUSES OF OVERPOPULATION.
- Natural increase in population.
- A decline in resources.
- A decline in the demand for labour.
UNDER POPULATION.
- It is a situation when a country’s population is too small to develop its resources
effectively enough to improve the standard of living.
IMPACT OF POPULATION GROWTH ON THE FAMILY AND THE ENVIRONMENT.

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Family
- Inadequate housing facilities.
- Fewer basic needs for family members to share.
- Children in large families will receive lower quality education.
- High crime rates due to lack of care in families.
-increased levels of poverty.
- Higher rates of unemployment.
- Strain on the economy.
Environment.
- Degradation of the environment.
- Deforestation will rise due to high demand for firewood, timber etc.
- Congestion in schools, hospitals, roads and other places, hence poor living
conditions.
- Over-exploitation of resources like minerals, fish etc.
- Increased pressure on the existing social facilities.
- Higher costs of available resources e.g. land.
IMPORTANCE OF CONTROLLING RAPID POPULATION GROWTH.
i. Availability of resources.
- Resources become available to all people.
ii. Protection and sustainability of resources.
- Less pressure on resources hence good management of these resources.
iii. Government and other stakeholders are able to provide for social services to
the people.
iv. Good living standards among the people, poverty is also reduced.
v. Reduced crime rates and other social problems.
CALCULATING BIRTH AND DEATH RATES.
Birth Rate
- The formulae for calculating crude birth rate is as follows:

Crude Birth Rate = x 1000

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Death Rate
- The formulae for calculating crude death rate is as follows:

Crude Death Rate = x 1000

SOME OF THE REASONS WHY MALAWI HAS HIGH BIRTH RATES

i. High incidences of early marriages.
ii. Children are regarded as wealth and source of help when parents grow old.
iii. Children are regarded as source of labour in gardens/farms.
iv. Lack of reproductive health services.
v. More children are regarded as a symbol of high status in some communities.
vi. Sex preferences especially when the couple is producing female children
only.
vii. Religious beliefs may prevent some women from using birth control methods.
viii. Polygamous type of families.
CONTROLLING RAPID POPULATION GROWTH
- Encouraging couples to practice child spacing.
- Following and using family planning methods.
- Avoid premarital sex which can lead to early/teenage pregnancies.
- Discouraging early marriages.
- Government should formulate policies to determine how many children should
a couple produce.
- Eliminating some of cultural practices which may lead to early pregnancies
e.g. fisi, kuchotsa fumbi.
- Civic education and awareness campaigns on the dangers of having rapid
population growth.

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