The Weather and Its Features
Many of us, when we first wake up, look out the window to see what the weather is like outside. Then, after looking at the weather forecast, we decide what we will wear and how we will spend the day. If you didn’t have any plans and the weather is clear and sunny, you can go for a walk in the park or a picnic with friends. And if the weather is gloomy and rainy, you are unlikely to want to go for a walk, in most cases people choose to stay home and watch a fascinating movie with a cup of tea.
For a more convenient view of the weather, we recommend using msn weather forecast to start making plans for the next day in the evening.
Changes in weather conditions can also affect our well-being and outlook on life. Weather events such as storms, tornadoes can have a negative impact on people’s lives, causing a lot of destruction.
Weather is a dynamic phenomenon; it is constantly changing. Over many years, certain weather conditions become common in a region. The average weather conditions and its fluctuations over the years are called the climate.
Climate, like weather, is capable of changing constantly. But its changes can last for hundreds or even thousands of years.
What weather is made up of
There are several components that make up the weather:
- temperature;
- atmospheric pressure;
- wind;
- humidity;
- precipitation;
- cloudiness.
These six components affect the weather and help meteorologists study it and make predictions.
Temperatures are measured with a thermometer, and scientists report temperatures in Celsius and Fahrenheit. The U.S. uses Fahrenheit and other countries use Celsius. Most meteorologists measure temperature in Celsius.
The second component that affects weather is atmospheric pressure. Atmospheric pressure is the force with which air presses on the earth’s surface and everything on it. If the atmospheric pressure changes, it means that the weather will change. When the pressure is high, it will often be cool outside, but the skies will be clear, and when the pressure is low, the weather will be warm, but may bring rains, and even a storm. Scientists measure atmospheric pressure in a unit called the atmosphere. The atmosphere is measured in millibars or inches.
Atmospheric pressure tends to change with altitude. At high altitudes, the atmospheric pressure decreases.
Wind is the flow of air in a horizontal direction. It is generated by differences in atmospheric pressure and temperature between nearby areas. Most often, the wind blows from the high pressure side, where the weather is cooler, toward regions where the pressure is low and the weather is warmer.
The wind is also influenced by the actions of people. Unfortunately, in today’s world, people do not really care about the ecology of the planet and excessively engaged in cutting down trees, destroying even entire forests. As a consequence, large gusts of wind and hurricanes are more frequent in such areas.
Humidity is a content of water vapor in the air. Water vapor is a gas in the atmosphere that helps clouds, rain, and snow form. They appear as a result of air cooling below the saturation point. Most often this occurs when moist, warm air rises and cools in the meantime.
Clouds have an effect on how much sunlight there will be on Earth. Usually cloudy days are much cooler than clear days because clouds keep the sun’s rays from making their way to the Earth’s surface. And at night, clouds act as a blanket because they help keep you warm.
Weather Forecasting
The science that deals with the study of weather forecasting is called meteorology. For many years the weather forecast has been very important to many nations. People needed to know what kind of weather was coming their way. For example, in the field of agriculture, the weather forecast was very necessary because it was necessary to know exactly when to plant a particular crop, when to water it, as well as to harvest.
The first forecasts were made by the ancient peoples: the Aztecs, the Egyptians and the Indians. All of them equated the weather forecast with religion, and they associated weather phenomena with a deity and worshipped them because they believed it would be the key to good weather.
As early as the 16th and 18th centuries, the weather forecast became more accurate. In the 17th century, the thermometer and barometer were invented, and in the 18th century, J. Newton explained gravitation, motion and thermodynamics. These principles became the ground for further study of meteorology.
