YEAR 8 GEOGRAPHY — WEATHER & CLIMATE STUDY NOTES
Simple Notes to Memorize for the End-of-Unit Test
1. Weather vs. Climate
Weather
• The state of the atmosphere now (day-to-day).
• Can change hour to hour.
• Examples: hot, cold, windy, rainy, cloudy.
Climate
• The average weather of a place over 30 years.
• Tells you what the weather is usually like in one place.
Example from the booklet: Page 82 shows how climate uses long-term
data (average monthly temperatures and rainfall)
2. What Causes Weather?
The Sun
• Heats Earth unevenly (because Earth is round. The top and bottom don’t
warm up much).
• The warm air rises → cool air replaces it → make wind.
• Heats oceans → makes water evaporate → water vapour → it cools which
causes the water vapour to condense into clouds → rain (tiny water
droplets).
• If the air is very cold → water droplets fall as snow, sleet or hailstones
(depends on air temperature).
Where weather happens
• In the troposphere, the lowest layer of the
atmosphere (up to 11 km)
3. Measuring Weather
You must know what we measure + tool: (From page 72)
The measurement
What we measure Tool
is given..
Temperature (how hot In degrees Celsius
Thermometer
or cold a place is) (C)
Precipitation (how In millimetres or
Rain gauge (container
much water has fallen Centimetres with scale marked on it)
from sky)
Air pressure (the force In millibars (mb)
pressing down on us coz Range 970 mb to 1040 Barometer
the weight of the air) mb.
In miles per hour Anemometer (set of
Wind speed (how fast (mph) or kilometres little cups which the
the winds is blowing) per hour (kph) wind turns, show
speed)
Using compass Wind vane or wind
Wind direction (the
directions (ex; south sock which is fabric
direction the wind is
west wind blows from tube show direction of
blowing from)
south west) wind
4. Types of Rainfall
Rain: the Sun warms the water (oceans, rivers and lakes), some water
evaporates to water vapour (gas), so its rises into air. When air rises, it cools
so water vapour condenses to give clouds of water droplets. Droplets join to
bigger drops, when grow heavy enough, they fall as rain.
You must memorize the 3 types (pages 74–75)
1. Convectional Rain
• Sun heats ground → warm air rises (convection currents) → cools →
condenses → rain.
• Common in hot climates.
2. Relief (Orographic) Rain
• Wind is just moving air.
• When the wind meets high hills or mountains, there’s only one wat to go
up → the air rises and cools → rains on windward side.
• Leeward side stays dry.
3. Frontal Rain
• Where a warm air mass meets cold air → warm air rises → water vapour get
cools → condenses → rain.
• Common in the UK.
5. Clouds: (From page 75)
Cumulus clouds
• Fluffy clouds form when warm air rises fast.
• When the ground heats the air quickly or mountains force air to rise.
• Bring short heavy showers.
• On very hot day, they can grow into tall dark thunderclouds (heavy
rain).
Stratus clouds
• These are blankets of dull cloud.
• They form when air rises more slowly, over a wide area.
• When a warm air mass meets a colder one. Stratus clouds bring
drizzle (light rain), but not heavy showers.
6. Air Pressure (page 76–77)
Air pressure: is the force pressing down on us because of weight of the
atmosphere.
Low Pressure
• Warm air rises, so air pressure falls.
• The air rushes from higher pressure to lower pressure.
• As the rising air cools → clouds form → then it rains.
• Weather: wet, windy, stormy
(worse weather will be)
High Pressure
• When warm air rises in on place → cold air sinks somewhere else
→ giving high pressure.
• No water vapour condenses. No clouds form. The sky stays clear.
• Weather: hot & sunny in summer, cold & dry in winter.
High pressure in summer:
No clouds mean no rain. So, there may be drought (dry) in some place.
No clouds mean the ground gets cold at night. Water vapour condenses
on grass to form dew.
On very hot cloudless days, the hot air rise rapidly. It cools and clouds
form. Inside these clouds, strong currents of rise causing thunderstorms.
High pressure in winter:
No clouds, the ground cools fast at night and cools the air above it. Water
vapour condenses and freezes of clod surfaces, giving frost.
Water vapour also condenses on dust and other particles in the air, giving
fog.
Water on roads freezes to ice as the sun goes down.
7. Why Is UK Weather Changeable? (page 78–79)
• Warm and sunny one day. Cool, wet and windy
the next day. Why?
Because blocks of air on the move.
• UK sits between cold Polar air and warm tropical air.
Air masses (air moves in huge blocks): Large bodies of air with same
temperature and humidity.
When different air masses meet/ clash → sudden weather changes.
If warm air mass is in place, and a cold one arrive, you get worse
weather. Why? Because cold air mass travels fast, and dives under the
warm air mass, and pushes it upwards. → strong winds, thick cloud, and
heavy rain.
Fronts: the leading edge of an air mass
What Caused the storms?
The clash of warm and cold air masses.
Depression: resulting weather system when warm air masses clash
with cold air masses.
Jet stream: is a very fast, strong wind high up in the atmosphere and it
moves storms and depressions along. (we cannot feel it coz it’s high
up where airplanes fly)
8. From Weather to Climate
Climate Graph (page 83)
You should know:
• Red line = temperature.
• Blue bars = rainfall.
• Used to understand seasonal patterns.
In May, the max temperature is about 18C,
And has about 50 mm rainfall in total.
9. What Influences Climate? (page 84–85)
1. Latitude: how far a place is from the Equator. It is the main factor that
dictates climate.
• Closer to equator = hotter. (The sun shining an
area around equator, so its heat the ground.
Then the ground heats the air)
• Farther away = colder. (The sun shining on a
larger area because earth is curved.
So doesn’t get hot)
2. Earth’s tilt plays big part too: Earth travels non-stop around the sun.
it is tilted as it travels. A full orbit takes a year.
The tilt is the reason why our climate changes. It gives us out seasons.
• When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted
Toward the sun, get more heat, summer.
• In December, the titled away from the
sun. We get less heat. It’s winter.
3. Four other factors:
a) Distance from the coast
• Near sea = cooler summers, warmer winters.
b) Prevailing winds directions
• Bring weather from the direction they blow.
c) Ocean currents
• Warm currents warm nearby land. (North Atlantic Drift warms the
west coast of UK)
• Cold currents cool nearby land.
d) Altitude (height above the sea level)
• Higher places = colder temperatures.
• The temperature falls about 1C every 100 meters.
10. Climates around the world (page 86–87)
• The climate varies within regions.
• 50 years from now. A world climate map may look different, since
Earth is getting warmer.
EXTRA: Quick Summary for Memorizing
If you remember ONLY this, you will pass the test:
• Weather = short-term, Climate = long-term average.
• Sun causes weather by heating Earth unevenly.
• Three types of rain: Convectional, Relief, Frontal.
• Low pressure = stormy; High pressure = clear sky.
• Climate affected by: latitude, distance from sea, ocean currents,
wind, altitude.
• Air masses control UK weather.
• Tools: thermometer, rain gauge, barometer, wind vane, anemometer.