Shaina T.

Novicio
BSED-4A

Factors affecting the weather.

Weather is made up of six main components. These are temperature, atmospheric pressure, cloud
formation, wind, humidity and rain. A small change to any of these conditions can create a
different weather pattern.
Every weather pattern has a knock-on effect, creating a ripple effect around the world. That’s
why weather can sometimes seem chaotic. It’s constantly changing.

Temperature
Temperature describes how hot or cold the atmosphere is. The atmosphere absorbs heat energy
from the sun. But human activities, such as releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, can
also affect the earth’s temperature.

Atmospheric pressure
 Atmospheric pressure is a result of the weight and density of the air.
Atmospheric pressure changes as air becomes warmer or colder, because the temperature
of air affects how dense it is. Warm air molecules have more energy and move further
apart, meaning that warm air is less dense than cold air.
Atmospheric pressure also decreases as you move higher into the atmosphere. Imagine
the atmosphere as a huge ocean of air that we live underneath. The pressure underneath
the weight of the entire ocean is far greater than the pressure near the ocean’s surface.
That’s why atmospheric pressure decreases as you move higher in the atmosphere.

Clouds
 Clouds are visible masses of water vapour in our atmosphere. They are formed when
water evaporates from places like oceans and lakes, and then condenses when it cools
down again.

Wind
  Wind is the movement of air in the sky. Wind is caused by the different air pressures in
our atmosphere. Air from areas of high pressure tries to move into areas of low pressure.
The greater the difference between the air pressure, the faster the air moves between the
two areas.

Humidity
 Humidity describes the amount of water vapor in the air. Water vapour makes up
anywhere between 0.1% and 4% of the gases in our atmosphere. Warmer air can carry
more water vapour than cooler air, which is why warm tropical climates often feel sticky.

Rain
 Rain happens when water droplets fall from clouds in the sky. Clouds are full of tiny
water droplets, and as they collect more moisture those droplets become heavier and
heavier. Eventually, the droplets become too heavy to stay in the sky, and they fall to the
ground.

How does climate change affect weather?

Climate change is making extreme weather more frequent and more severe.
Climate change is being driven by a rapid increase in the temperature of our atmosphere. We
know that the average global temperature has increased by around 1°C since the industrial
revolution and is getting warmer at increasing pace.
A warmer atmosphere has knock-on effects for many different types of weather, not only warm
weather, and will affect different parts of the world differently.
Climate change is making droughts last longer, and heat waves are becoming more frequent.
Heavy rainfall and snowfall will become more intense in some places as a warmer atmosphere is
able to hold more moisture in the sky. And, high-impact events like storms will become more
frequent.
References:
https://ncas.ac.uk/learn/what-causes-weather/#:~:text=These%20are%20temperature%2C
%20atmospheric%20pressure,weather%20can%20sometimes%20seem%20chaotic.