Weather

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

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.

Climate and Adaptation.

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.

Related Chapter Name