Chapter 7: Weather, Climate and Adaptations of Animals of Climate

Weather
•    Weather plays an important role in our lives. In cold weather we protect ourselves by wearing woolen clothes while in hot weather we use certain cooling devices like fan, cooler or air conditioner to keep ourselves cool.
•    We wear raincoats or use umbrellas to escape from the rain. We plan many of our day-to-day activities on the basis of prevailing weather conditions. We plan a picnic on a cool, pleasent and cheerful day and not on a hot and sultry day. We even plan a trip to a hill station or any other place after taking into account the weather conditions of that place.
•    Weather is defined as the state or condition of the atmosphere of a particular place, at a particular time in term of humidity, cloudiness, temperature, windspeed, etc.
•    People who study and record weather are called meteorologists.
•    The study of weather is called meteorology.
•    Rainfall is measured by an instrument called the rain gauge. It is basically a measuring cylinder with a funnel on top to collect rain water.
•    The hygrometer is used for humidity measurement. The amount of water vapour present in the air is called humidity.
•    The maximum and minimum temperature are recorded every day by special thermometers called maximum and minimum thermometers.
•    The maximum temperature of the day occurs generally in the afternoon while the minimum temperature occurs generally in the early morning.
•    All kind of changes in the weather are caused by the sun. There are variation in time of sunrise and sunset. Due to which days are longer in summer than winters. Sun is a huge sphere of hot gases having high temperature although distance of sun from         earth is very large but energy sent by sun is the main source of all heat and light on the earth. Thus sun is the primary source of energy that causes changes in the weather. Earth surface, oceans & atmosphere absorbs and reflects the solar energy,               which play important roles in determining the weather at any place. Due to this property changes in weather occurs near oceans, mountains and in desert etc.

Weather Forecasting
    Weatherman to a certain extent can predict or estimate what the weather will be like in the near future. This is called weather forecasting. It gives the following information :
    (i) Maximum and minimum temperature of the past 24 hours
    (ii) Humidity / relative humidity
    (iii) Rainfall
    (iv) Time of sunrise and sunset
    (v) Time of moonrise and moonset
    (vi) Prediction of weather for the present day

Chapter 7: Weather, Climate and Adaptations of Animals of Climate

The average weather pattern taken over a long time, say 25 years, is called the climate of the place. The tropical and the polar regions are the two regions of the earth, which have severe climatic conditions. Animals are adapted to the conditions in which they live. The polar regions are very cold throughout the year.

Weather

Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet’s atmosphere, the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers to day-to-day temperature, precipitation, and other atmospheric conditions, whereas climate is the term for the averaging of atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time.

Climate 
•    The average weather pattern taken over a long time say 25 years is called as the climate of the place.
•    It is the average weather conditions of a particular region of earth or area with regard to temperature, rain fall, air pressure, seasonal variations etc. 
•    Temperature, rainfall, solar radiations and air pressure determine the climate of an area. The variations in climates develop due to different duration, angle and intensity of solar radiations in different areas of the world, resulting in movement of winds and              ocean currents. 
•    Climate determines the flora and fauna of a place. Local variations of a climate that occurs in an area of limited size is called micro-climate. 
•    If the temperature and rainfall at a place is high most of the time then the climate of that place is hot and wet.
•    By taking information about climate of two places in India, we can compare climate of these regions. For eg. Jammu & Kashmir and Kerala. We find that Kerala is very hot & wet in comparison to Jammu and Kashmir. 
•    Similarly data of western region of India i.e. Rajasthan, shows that the temperature is very high during most of the year. Winter lasts for a few months and temperature is quite low. This region receives very little rainfall, thus this is a typical desert climate and        it is hot and dry. 
•    The north-eastern part of India receives rain in most of the year. Thus, the climate is wet.

                                 Difference between weather and climate

Climate

Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorological variables that are commonly measured are temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, and precipitation. In a broader sense, climate is the state of the components of the climate system, including the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the lithosphere and the biosphere and the interactions between them.

Adaptation
Adaptation are special characteristics developed by organisms to live comfortably and successfully under a prevailing set of environmental conditions. Adaptations may be morphological, physiological or behavioural or a combination of them. Adaptation develop through the process of natural selection. The ultimate aim of all adaptations is to make the individual fit to obtain food & space for its survival, opportunities for its reproduction & rearing of young ones.

Adaptation of animals to climate
Climate of an area greatly affect the flora, fauna and soil of the region. Animals are well adapted to their surrounding conditions, so that they can easily survive. Animals special features and habits helps them to adapt themselves to surroundings that result in evolution.

Climate and adaptation

Climatic adaptation refers to adaptations of an organism that are triggered due to the patterns of variation of abiotic factors that determine a specific climate. Annual means, seasonal variation and daily patterns of abiotic factors are properties of a climate where organisms can be adapted to. Changes in behavior, physical structure, internal mechanisms and metabolism are forms of adaptation that is caused by climate properties. Organisms of the same species that occur in different climates can be compared to determine which adaptations are due to climate and which are influenced majorly by other factors. Climatic adaptations limits to adaptations that have been established, characterizing species that live within the specific climate. It is different from Climate change adaptations which refers to the ability to adapt to gradual changes of a climate. Once a climate has changed, the climate change adaptation that led to the survival of the specific organisms as a species can be seen as a climatic adaptation.