Weather & Climate Unit

Topic Key Points Case Studies/Examples

1. Weather & You must know the difference between Weather & Climate:
Climate  Weather – The short term variations and conditions in
the earth’s atmosphere.
 Climate – The average temperature and rainfall of a
location over a longer period of time (1-30 years).

Be able to give examples of weather & climate:

 Weather – Sunny, cloudy, rain, windy
 Climate – Desert, Tropical, Polar, Temperate

2. Measuring the You must be able to draw, label and explain how each of the
weather following instruments work:
 Stevenson Screen
 Rain Gauge
 Maximum/Minimum Thermometer
 Web & Dry bulb thermometer
 Barometer
 Anemometer
 Wind Vane

For each:
 Be able to describe and explain the most ideal siting for
each instrument.
 Know what results/readings the user will obtain and the
units of measurement.
3. Climate Climate Graphs
 Know how to read them.
 Comment on the Peak Rainfall/Temperature,
Wettest/Driest Month, Highest/Lowest temperature,
degree of fluctuation throughout the year.

Factors that Affect Climate:

 The Hadley Cell – Be able to sketch this and explain Page 211
how different latitudes receive varying amounts of
rainfall.
 Make sure you can locate areas of low pressure
(equator – evaporation) and the areas of high pressure
(tropics – dry air sinks).

Factors that affect temperature:

 Latitude
 Distance from the sea
 Prevailing winds
 Ocean currents
 Altitude

Be able to explain how each of these affect temperature.

4. Clouds & Rain Know the 4 different types of cloud:

 Cumulus (cauliflower)
 Stratus (blanket)
 Cirrus (Thin wispy cloud)
 Cumulonimbus (Large dark storm clouds)

Cloud cover is measure in eights, or oktas. Page 202-203

 Know the different types of rainfall. Be able to draw diagrams
for each:
 Relief Rainfall
 Frontal Rainfall
 Convectional Rainfall

5. Tropical Many are found in the equatorial regions, which lie just north Page 213
Rainforest and south of the equator (within 5˚).
 Thinking about the Hadley Cell, these are the locations
where clouds are being blown north and south are
producing a lot of rain.
 Be able to sketch a climate graph for the Amazon
rainforest (page 212).
 Make sure you can describe the daily pattern for the
weather in this region

Make sure you can describe the characteristics of these Page 232
regions:
 High biodiversity
 Know the structure of the rainforest (Shrub, canopy &
emergent layers etc)
 Flora & Fauna (Plant & animal) adaptations (e.g. lianas,
drip tip leaves, emergent layer.
 Many human values to the rainforest (resources,
medicine, tourism etc.)
 Indigenous people.
6. Tropical Deserts Normally located in the central part of continents, and between Page 215 – Starting from
latitudes 5 and 15 North and South of the equator. the second paragraph
 In terms of the Hadley Cell, air that has been blown north down.
and south are becoming stripped of any moisture.
 Be able to sketch a climate graph (page 215 – Fig 13.10)
describe the annual change in the weather.
 Any moisture normally comes from wind blown fog which
then condenses on various obstacles (remember the
Headstanding beetle).

 Be able to describe and explain how various flora & fauna

are adapted to the desert climates. Try having a look at page
234 too.

7. Tropical Cyclones Your case study for this is New Orleans & Hurricane Page 216
Katrina. Notes and booklet on
Hurricane Katrina.
 These cyclones are formed between the two tropics,
areas where rapid evaporation can take place due to
warm ocean currents and stronger radiation from the
sun.
 Know the physical causes of a cyclone and how they build
up (page 216)
 Use your notes and the booklet to list the environmental,
social, economic and demographic effects of the
hurricane in 2005
 Also check that you know why Katrina was such a
disaster – What were the problems with the clean up and
management of the issue?
 List the short and long term effects – Split into
 environmental, economic and social if possible.

Know clearly how and why New Orleans experienced mass Have a look at pages 310-
coastal flooding: 311, as they outline the
 New Orleans lies below the local sea level. causes and effects of
 Bordered by the Mississippi, Lake Ponchartrain and the coastal flooding in MEDCs.
Gulf of Mexico. You can then apply this to
 Levees failed on one side. your own case study.
 On the other side, floodwater was higher than the levee,
and so the defence acted as a trap for water thus keeping
the water in.
 Also, it was a category 5 hurricane when it reached New
Orleans – Know why this was the case.

8. Management of Deforestation – The main threat to areas like the Amazon Try and have a look at
the Tropical Rainforest pages 236-237 of the
Rainforest  Use your notes to check that you know why the Amazon textbook, as it describes
is being deforested. deforestation very well
 Know what the effects of this are environmentally (global
effects) and on the indigenous people that live there
(local - social impacts).

9. Desertification Focus on the case study of the Sahel itself for this part. The Sahel – pages 256-258
 Be clear on the
 Be able to show (in a flow diagram) how places can physical and human
suffer from desertification. causes of the drought.
 Be clear that an increase in population combined with a  Be able to use facts &
harsh climate can lead to desertification. figures.
 Many areas at risk from desertification lie on the tropics –  Know how the rise in
think back to the Hadley Cell. population (because
of LEDC reasons) has
led to an exploitation
of the land
(overgrazing etc) and
this has caused the
desert to spread.