weather and climate

Question 1

definition

Answer 1

weather - condition of the atmosphere at the specific time and place.
climate - avg condition of atmosphere of a specific place over a long period of time (30 years)

Question 2

factors affecting weather

Answer 2

1. temperature (latitude, altitude, distance from sea, cloud cover)
2. relative humidity
3. clouds
4. rainfall (conventional, relief)
5. air pressure
6. wind (land and sea breeze. southwest and northeast monsoon)

Question 3

latitude

Answer 3

the nearer the equator, the hotter it is.

Question 4

altitude

Answer 4

temperature decreases at high altitude as lesser air particles at the top. the air particles are denser and laying on the ground at the bottom

Question 5

distance from sea

Answer 5

maritime and continental effect. during summer, air over sea is cooler than land as land heats up faster than sea.

Question 6

cloud cover

Answer 6

no clouds + sun = hot,
no clouds + no sun = cool,
cloud + sun/ no sun = normal

Question 7

relative humidity

Answer 7

amount of water vapour in air/ the max it can hold. warm air hols more water vapour

Question 8

clouds

Answer 8

air over heated surface expand and rises forming water vapour and merge when reached dew point. it becomes bigger and forms a cloud which when full, will fall as precipitation

Question 9

convectional rain

Answer 9

air above ground expands and rises, cooling till dew point and forming a big cloud. when content is too much, it falls as rain

Question 10

relief rain

Answer 10

warm, moist air from sea forced to rise, causing it to cool forming water vapour which forms a big cloud. rain falls on the windward side and causes leeward side to experience dry wind

Question 11

air pressure

Answer 11

force exerted on an unit area by the weight of air above it

Question 12

land/sea breeze

Answer 12

land breeze: wind from land to sea. air above the warm sea expands and rises. Air moves from area of high pressure to low pressure causing air over land to fill up vacuum above sea. the warm air form the sea cools down and fills up the vacuum above the land.
(SEA BREEZE OPPOSITE)

Question 13

southwest and northeast monsoon

Answer 13

southwest: in june - september, northern hemisphere central asia heats up causing air above it to expand and rises forming a low pressure area. southern hemisphere is habing winter and creates an area of high pressure. since air moves from area of high pressure to low pressure, wind flows from southern hemisphere to northern hemisphere. as air passes the indian ocean, it collects moisture. due to the coriolis effect, the direction curved to the right and brinngs heavy rain to the northern hemisphere.
(NORTHEAST OPPOSITE DEC-MAR )

Question 14

factors affecting climate

Answer 14

• variation in solar output,
• volcanic eruption(ashes and particles reflect heat back to atmostphere causing drop in temperature),
• deforestation (cutting down trees that take in all the carbon dioxide making there be more c02 to absorb heat.),
• burning of fossil fuels (releases harmful gases into the air which absorbs heat),
• agriculture (cattles fart has methane and farming tools releases harmfull gases)

Question 15

impacts of climate change

Answer 15

• rising sea levels (ice caps are melting), - extreme weather events (heat waves, floods, droughts),
• insect borne diseases (mosquitoes like humid places),
• longer growing seasons (some countries may not be able to grow crops that cannot be grown in humid/cold places)

Question 16

responses to the impacts

Answer 16

international: kyoto protocol
national: green mark scheme, plant a tree programme, singapore green plan