Notes: Complete Chapter - Weather & Climate, Class 7, Social Science PDF Download

Weather, Climate and Adaptation of Animals to Climate

Weather: The day to day condition of atmosphere at a particular place is called weather. The weather can be comfortable, or can be too hot or cold.

Weather Report: The daily report about weather; usually released by the meteorological department is called weather report. Weather report is often shown along with the news on television.

Elements of weather: The various elements of weather are: temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind-speed, etc.

Temperature: Temperature depends upon the duration of sunshine. During the summer season, the duration of the sunshine is longer. Due to this, the temperature is high in summer. The day temperature is minimum in the morning and maximum at noon.

Humidity: Humidity is the amount of moisture present in air. Humidity is generally measured in percentage. Humidity is generally at the highest level; during the rainy season.

Rainfall: Amount of rainfall is measured in terms of mm. For this, an apparatus; called rain gauge is used.

Wind-speed: Speed of wind also affects the condition of weather.

Department of Meteorology: This is a Government Department. The Meteorological Department measures the elements of weather and keeps their record. Meteorologists use data from satellites and analyse the data to forecast about the weather.

Climate: Climate is the average weather condition of at least 25 years; in a given geographical part.

The climate of India is said to be hot and humid, because the temperature is usually high and so is the humidity for most parts of the year. The climate of Rajasthan is said to be hot and dry because temperature is very high but humidity is very low. On the other hand, the climate of Kashmir is said to be cold because temperature is low.

Rainforest: Rainforest is found generally near the equator. Places near the equator receive more sunshine and hence more rainfall. This makes the place hot and humid. Temperatures vary from 15°C to 40°C generally near the equator. Rainforests are also present in some tropical areas.

Desert: Temperature in desert is generally higher and it receives less or little rain fall. So deserts are hot and dry.

Polar Region: Polar Region is at high latitude and hence do not receive adequate sunshine. Due to this, temperature is very low in the Polar Regions. The Polar Region is covered with snow, because of the low temperature.

Climate and Adaptation:

At several places, such as desert, polar region, etc. climate is very harsh. Many organisms live and thrive at these places, in spite of the harsh climate. Animals and plants; living in such places; develop certain features which help them survive the harsh climate. To develop certain features in order to survive the given climate is called adaptation.

Adaptation in Polar Region:

In Polar Regions, the sun does not set for about six months and it does not appear for another six months of the year. These regions are covered with snow for most part of the years. In winter, temperature may down to -37°C. Hence, the climate of Polar Regions becomes extreme and harsh. In spite of such condition, many animals live at those places, for example: Polar Bear, Penguin, Snow Leopard, etc. These animals show various adaptations which help them in surviving in the harsh climate of the Polar Region.

Polar Bear: Polar bear has two thick layers of fur over its body. In addition to this, they have thick layer of fat under the skin; called blubber. These layers act as insulator and prevent the bear from extreme cold. Because of the white fur, the Polar Bear can easily mix with its snowy background and can hide from its prey and predator. Getting hide with surrounding because of special colour and pattern is known as camouflage.

Polar bears have wide paws with long curved nails, called claws. This helps them to move on the snow. r swimming to keep them cool. Wide paws work as a rudder, while swimming. They are very good swimmers.

Polar bear has a highly developed sense of smell. It helps the Polar bear in finding a fish even from under a thick layer of snow.

These adaptations help Polar RThese adaptations help Polar Region to survive in the extreme condition of the Polar Region.

Penguin: Penguins also live in the Polar Region. Penguins are of white colour with black back. They have thick layer of fat under their skin. This protects them from extreme cold.

They usually remain huddled together. This helps in keeping them warm. nd curved claws which help them to walk in snow and to swim in water.

These adaptations help the penguin to survive in the extreme condition of the Polar Region.

Birds: There are many types of birds found in Polar Regions. They fly to the warm regions during winter to survive. Long distance travel; in search of favourable climate; is called migration.

Some migratory birds are known to travel as long as 15000 km to keep them survive in opposite climatic conditions. Arctic tern is known to be the longest traveler among the migratory birds.

Apart from birds, many fish and mammals also migrate to other places in such opposite climatic conditions.

Tropical Rain Forest:

In India, Tropical Rainforests are found in the Western Ghats and in Assam. Rainforests are also found in Southeast Asia, Central America and Central Africa.

Rainforests have plenty of food which supports variety of life. Many animals are found in the rainforests, e.g. leopard, elephant, snakes, tigers, monkey, buffaloes, frogs, apes, lizards, many types of birds, insects, etc.

In spite of plenty of food, there is a high level of competition for survival among animals in the rainforest.

Adaptive features of animals found in rain forest:

Lion: The colour of lion helps it in blending in its background. Lion has a highly developed sense of smell and night vision. All of these help a lion in catching the prey.

Elephant: Elephants have well developed sense of smell. It helps the elephant in finding the food. The trunk has powerful muscles which help the elephant in uprooting even a big tree. Elephants have good sense of hearing which help the elephant in sensing danger way in advance. An elephant uses its trunk to sprinkle water all over its body so that it can cool down its body temperature.

Monkeys: Monkeys are highly adapted to live in the rainforests. Monkey uses its palms and soles to grip a branch and thus can hang and swing from a branch. It can also use its tail to hold a branch. Monkeys can climb to the topmost branch of a tree and thus can see very far in the jungle. This helps them in sensing the danger and also in finding the food.

Frogs: Frogs are adapted to live both on land and in water. The greenish colour of the frog helps it in mixing with the green foliage. Frog has a long and sticky tongue with which it catches its prey. The tree-frog has developed sticky pads in its claws. This helps the tree-frog in climbing a tree and in holding on to a branch.