Weather & Climate

Are WEATHER and CLIMATE the same thing? NO! Then, what is the difference?

Weather Weather is the condition of the bottom layer of the earth’s atmosphere. - What is going on outside right now.

ClimateClimate - weather patterns a region typically experiences over time. Climate

THE SUN & THE EARTH The sun is of course the ultimate source of the earth’s climate. Because of the earth’s position and Revolution around the sun, we experience different climates in different areas.

Rotation The earth ROTATES once every 24 hours. It completes one Revolution once every 365 ¼ days and is tilted 23 ½ degrees.

Summer & winter SOLSTICES occur when the sun, at noon, is directly over the Tropics of Capricorn & Cancer.

Fall and Spring EQUINOXES occur when the sun, at noon, is directly over the equator.

GreenHouseGreenHouseGreenHouseGreenHouse EffectEffectEffectEffect

Greenhouse Effect Earth’s atmosphere acts as a greenhouse trapping 50% of the sun’s heat radiation. Clouds, water vapor and carbon dioxide absorb the heat reflected by the earth and radiates it back again to keep the balance

Global Warming Scientists claim that there has been a rise in CO 2 levels and that has caused a rise in global temperatures.

Global Warming Burning of coal, oil and natural gas has caused the CO 2 levels to rise - increased burning will trap more heat in the atmosphere

Global Warming Some scientists predict that Global Warming will cause extreme global weather patterns such as rapid water evaporation causing drier soils between rain and humidity might increase due to rapid evaporation in the oceans.

Not all scientists agree on the nature of global warming …hmmmmm! Global Warming

Observe changes in Earth's orbit that contribute to climate change ence/terc/content/visualizations/es1506/es1 506page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualizationhttp:// ence/terc/content/visualizations/es1506/es1 506page01.cfm?chapter_no=visualization