We very often use such concepts as “weather” and “climate”. But do we always clearly understand what it is? And if we know more about the weather, then not everyone will say what climate is. Let's try to figure it out.
Weather is the state of the atmospheric layer of air at the very surface of the earth over any territory at a given time. It depends on many of the most diverse factors, and primarily on those processes that occur in the atmosphere.
The weather is very variable, it can change several times during the day. But if you look closely, observe it for a year, you can notice some constant properties. For example, the alternation in a certain sequence of warm and cold weather, its change in the seasons. These features characteristic of this area are called climate. In other words, about what climate is, we can say this - this is a multi-year weather regime in this territory.
Why is he different?
Since the Earth has a spherical shape, its surface is illuminated by the Sun differently. At the poles, the sun’s rays hardly heat the surface, slipping and bouncing off the snow cover, they go back into space. What is the climate of the polar regions - it is constant cold, eternal snow and ice.
But in the equatorial region it is always hot, the lighting is maximum here, so the sun is always at its zenith. On both sides of the equator are areas with the hottest conditions, they are called the tropics. In these areas, not only is it always warm, but they are also the wettest, as a lot of moisture evaporates due to high temperatures. Precipitation and warm air contribute to the rapid growth of vegetation. Such species diversity of flora and fauna on the planet is nowhere else. There is no need to further explain the climate in which rainforests grow, but why there are many deserts in the same tropics should be clarified.
Air saturated with moisture when moving from the equator to the poles gradually becomes drier. In tropical latitudes, there is almost no moisture in it, because of this there are such corners on Earth, where for a few years there has not been a single drop of rain. In such conditions, deserts are formed, in particular, the largest desert in the Sahara world.
What is the climate of the highlands?
In the mountains it is much colder than in the plains, and these changes are related to altitude. The higher the foot, the more severe the climate, as the air temperature decreases with distance from the earth's surface. At the same time, such a pattern is observed - when rising to every thousand meters, it becomes colder by 6 ° C.
The impact of climate on human life
Changes, even the smallest ones, can lead to great problems for humanity. The distribution of natural zones is changing, in certain territories there is a change in the types of vegetation and wildlife, glaciers and ice fields are melting in the Arctic Ocean. All this will affect not only the living conditions of people, but also their economic activities.
