Weather and Climate Notes

Weather: ☁ Usually observed over a period of 30 years. Can change within a few minutes or hours.
Climate: 🌎 Takes a very long time to change.
Local Weather: Example given of weather on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Global Climate

Temperature: ◻ Determined by the amount of sunshine a location gets.
- Measured by a thermometer.
- Refers to how hot or cold a place is.
- Depends on the angle at which the sun’s rays hit the earth.
- The lower the sun, the more heat concentrated; the higher the sun, the smaller the area of concentration.
Rainfall: ☔ The quantity of rain falling within a given area in a given time.
Wind Direction: ↗ The direction from which the wind blows.
Cloud Cover: 🌥 Amount of sky covered by clouds.
- Clouds are made up of millions of particles of water droplets or ice floating in the atmosphere above the surface of the earth.
- These form from condensation that takes place when water vapor rises.

Instrument	Best Location for Best Result
Thermometer	🏠 Should be placed in a sheltered area for accurate readings
Rain Gauge	🌳 Should be in an open area, shielded from wind and away from buildings
Wind Vane	🏰 Positioned at the highest point on a roof to detect wind direction accurately
Anemometer	🌌 Needs to be in an open space, ideally 10 meters above ground
Barometer	🏡 Can be placed indoors or outdoors

Angle at which any particular place is located in relation to the equator and is measured in degrees.
This determines the duration of sun exposure.
When a hemisphere is closer to the sun, there are more hours of daylight and it is warmer.

🌅 Water is a good heat insulator since it can maintain a particular temperature for months.
Places closer to the sea in summer will be cooler.
In winter, places closer to the sea tend to be warmer.
Inland locations undergo greater temperature differences than coastal areas.

⛰ The Earth’s crust is characterized by mountains, hills, valleys, and flat areas. These features leave an impact on climate.
The higher a place is from the sea, the cooler it gets.
On average, the temperature decreases $1$ ºC for every $100$ m.

🌬 Wind that blows frequently over a specific region.
Winds blowing on warm grounds bring warm weather.
Prevailing winds can also bring cold weather if they move over cold land and water masses.

Relief Rainfall: 🌧 Moisture-rich clouds are driven over high areas such as mountains. Air rises, cools, condenses, and causes rain.
Frontal Rainfall: ❄ When cold dry air collides with warm moist air, it creates storms and cyclones through condensation.
Convectional Rainfall: ☀ Sun heats the ground, which warms the air. When the air cools, thunderstorms can follow.

Hot and humid climate characterized by high temperatures and abundant rainfall all year round.
Convectional rainfall; vegetation includes dense, broadleaf, evergreen rainforest.

🌿 Vegetation present in climates like the Maltese Islands includes scrubland like thyme and lavender and moderate-sized trees.
Vegetation adapts to tolerate hot dry summers.
Certain plants become dormant in summer and resume growth in winter when water is more available.

The red line refers to the maximum temperature, while the blue line refers to the minimum temperature.