“The Sweetest Sound in the World is the Persons

Own name”
-----Dale Carnegie
 Date: 03/1/18

DHSM-1103: Climatology

Dept. of Disaster and Human Security Management

Bangladesh University of Professionals, Mirpur, Dhaka- 1216

Lecturer Irtifa Alam Nabila

Email: irtifa.nabila@gmail.com

Lecture 01
Outline

 Aims and objectives of the Course

 Scope of Climatology
 Climatology
 Weather and Climate
 Differentiation
 Importance
 Aims and objectives
• Climatology seeks to explain:-
I. The causes of different types of climates
II. The reasons for their variations
III. Their effects on natural vegetation
IV. The processes that produce different climates

The science of climatology also makes a detailed analysis of the

interactions of the weather and climate elements with human
societies.
 Major Divisions of Earth System

* FOUR major divisions of our planet comprise the EARTH SYSTEM.

* Atmosphere
* Hydrosphere
* Biosphere
*Lithosphere
 The Atmosphere is the gaseous blanket of air that shields EARTH.
The waters of the earth system – oceans, lakes, rivers and glaciers constitute the
Hydrosphere.

The Biosphere is composed of all living things; people, other animals and plants.
The solid Earth – landforms, rock, soil and minerals make up the Lithosphere.
 * The interactions among the components
make the earth livable.

* The Hydrosphere serves as the water supply

for all life, including humans, and provides a
home environment for many types plants and
animals.
* The hydrosphere directly affects the
Lithosphere as the moving water in streams,
waves and thus shape the landforms.
* The impact or intensity
of interactions among earth’s sub-system is not identical
everywhere on the planet.
Who studies climatology?

Source: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY

• Scope of Climatology
Physical – factor responsible for climate variation
Regional- climate types
Applied- climate [This branch was published after 2nd
world
- human activity war]
Scales in Climatology
 Climatology
•Climatology studies the gaseous atmosphere
Climatology is the science of climate which
study the Physical state of the
atmosphere:-
--over a specific region
--during a specific period
--on the basis of climatic data

•Climatology is compounded of two Greek words……..,

Klima and Logos
--Klima- meaning inclination that is latitude
--Logos-meaning science of study
So, climatology is a science that seeks to describe and
explain:-

……the nature of climate

……why it differs from place to place
……how it is related to other elements of the natural environment and
human activities
Climatology is the science of climate which study the
physical and spatial state of the atmospheric conditions

According to Critchfield:-
Ø‘Climatology is the science that seeks to describe and explain the nature of
climate, how it differs from place to place and how it is related to man’s
activities.’

According to Austin Miller:-

Ø‘Climatology is that branch of science which discusses the average
conditions of weather.’
According to Koppen and De Lang:-

Ø‘Climatology is a summery, a composition of weather conditions over a

long period of time.’

According to Thornthwaite:-

Ø‘Thornthwaite broadens the scope of climatology and suggest that it is

the study of the atmosphere as well as the Earth’s surface.’
Introduction to weather and climate
Different Types of Weather
Weather
 Weather is the combination of temperature,
rainfall, winds, and other atmospheric conditions
as they occur on a day to day basis.

These conditions are affected mainly by two

conditions: temperature and moisture.

According to David L Blumenstock -

“Weather is the behavior of the lower atmosphere which affect the lands and
oceans and have an influence on the organisms which live upon the lands,
within the waters of the earth or in the lower air.”
Variation of Weather
Climate
 Climate, on the other hand, is the sum total of the variety
of weather conditions of an area or a place.
 According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
“Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the "average
weather," or more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of
the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time
ranging from months to thousands or millions of years.

 “Climate is the description of the long-term pattern of

weather in a particular area”
Thus weather is examined on a day to day basis, climate
is often studied over the course longer spans of time.

Climate also generally covers a much larger area than weather, as

Dhaka and Comilla have generally the same climate but may
have different weather on any given day.

Climate is sometimes referred to as "average" weather

for a given area.
Variation of Climate
There are varying types of climate found throughout the world, ranging from
tropical to polar.
 Rainforest in Fiji

Eskimo in the North Pole Region

 Climate vs. Weather

Over time, as climate

patterns shift, so does
weather patterns.

Weather and climate are related

beyond just sharing similar factors of
temperature and moisture.
Remember Climate tells you what clothes to
buy, but weather tells you
Climate is what you
what clothes to wear.
expect and Weather is
what you get.
The Weather Service uses data such as temperature highs
and lows and precipitation for the past thirty years to
compile an area's "average" weather.

Some atmospheric scientists think that you need more than

"average" weather to accurately portray an area's climatic
character -- variations, patterns, and extremes must also be
included.
Weather is defined as the state of the atmosphere
at some place and time, usually expressed in
terms of temperature, air pressure, humidity,
wind speed and direction, precipitation, and
cloudiness. Meteorologists study weather.

Climate is defined in terms of the average (mean)

of weather elements (such as temperature and
precipitation) over a specified period of time (30
years according to the World Meteorological
Organization).
Climate vs. Weather
• Application of Climatological study
Questions for review:
 Difference between weather and climate
 How is the weather important to you in your daily
life?
 Define Climatology and describe its scope
 Aim and objectives of Climatology
 Describe the various temporal and spatial scales of
Climatology.
 References
 Climatology(Manoj Singh)
 Climatology (Savindra Singh)
 General Climatology (Howard J. Critchfield)
 Meteorology Today: An introduction to weather, climate and
the Environment (C.Donald Ahrens)
 Essentials of Physical Geography (R.E Gabbler, Peterson and
Trapasso)
Have a nice Journey…..