Test: Weather and Climate- 2

• The amount of water vapour in the air is called absolute humidity.
• The amount of water vapour in the air as compared with the amount of water that the air could hold is called relative humidity.

• Although some deserts are very hot, with daytime temperatures as high as 54°C (130°F), other deserts have cold winters or are cold year-round. And most deserts, far from being empty and lifeless, are home to a variety of plants, animals, and other organisms.

Coastal areas will generally have more moderate temperatures than inland areas because of the heat capacity of the ocean.

• We live at the bottom of an invisible ocean called the atmosphere, a layer of gases surrounding our planet.
• Nitrogen and oxygen account for 99 percent of the gases in dry air, with argon, carbon dioxide, helium, neon, and other gases making up minute portions.
• Water vapour and dust are also part of Earth's atmosphere.

• Barometers measure this pressure.
• Atmospheric pressure is an indicator of weather.
• Changes in the atmosphere, including changes in air pressure, affect the weather.

• Climate is defined as an area's long-term weather patterns.
• The simplest way to describe climate is to look at average temperature and precipitation over time.

• Wind vanes measure wind direction and are often used with anemometers, which measure wind speed.
• Campbell Scientific offers a variety of anemometer designs: cup, propeller, ultrasonic, sonic, and lidar.

The elements of weather and climate are-temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind, humidity and precipitation.

• The study of weather is called meteorology, and a person who studies the weather is called a meteorologist.
• Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences with a major focus on weather forecasting.

• Weather describes the condition of the atmosphere over a short period of time e.g. from day to day or week to week, while climate describes average conditions over a longer period of time.