SCIENCE

Climate: Factors Affecting Climate

Weather is a specific event or condition that happens over a period of hours or days. For example, a
thunderstorm, a snowstorm, and today’s temperature all describe the weather. Weather is highly variable day to
day, and from one year to the next. For example, Metro Manila might have a warm December this year and a much
colder December the next. This kind of change is normal. But when the average pattern over many years changes,
it is now called climate.
Climate refers to the average weather conditions in a place over many years. The climate in the Philippines
is tropical and maritime. It is characterized by relatively high temperature, high humidity and abundant rainfall.
Temperature, humidity and rainfall or precipitation are the most important elements of climate.
Using these elements the climate of the country can be divided into two major seasons: (1) the rainy season,
from June to November; and (2) the dry season, from December to May. The dry season may be subdivided further
into (a) the cool dry season, from December to February; and (b) the hot dry season, from March to May.
The climate of a place is different when compared to other. The reasons for these differences can be quite
complex but there are some general factors that can be identified as affecting climate, these are latitude, altitude,
distance to ocean, topography and ocean currents.
Latitude: The specific north to south grid positions on earth ranging from 0° at the equator to 90° at the poles.
Lower latitudes around the equator get the most sunlight, and as latitude increases temperature decreases. Large
scale ascending (cloudy sky, wet weather) and descending (clear sky, dry weather) motion of air is also a function
of latitude.
 Altitude: It is the height of an area above sea level. Generally, the higher an area is, the colder the
temperature is. Temperature usually decreases by 1°C for every 100 meters in altitude. Snow can be found on top
of a high mountain even when the weather is warm in the valleys. Locations at a higher altitude have colder
temperatures.

Distance to oceans or large bodies of water: Areas that are close to oceans and other large bodies of water
tend to have more moderate climate ranges between seasons. These areas also tend to have higher average
precipitation than land locked areas, although there can be exceptions. Landlocked areas is the locations in the
center of large landmasses that tend to have drier climates and extreme high temperature annually.
Oceans heat up and cool down much more slowly than land. This means that coastal locations tend to be cooler in
summer and warmer in winter than places inland at the same latitude and altitude. Glasgow, for example, is at a
similar latitude to Moscow, but is much milder in winter because it is nearer to the coast than Moscow.
 Topography: The natural features or arrangement of an area like land. The windward side of mountain
ranges tends to receive more precipitation than the leeward side.
Prevailing winds or wind direction influences regional climate including how much precipitation occurs
in relation to mountain ranges and water bodies.
 Ocean currents: Currents tend to warm temperatures of eastern coastal areas and cool temperatures on the
west coast of continents. Ocean currents are similar to winds in the atmosphere in that they transfer significant
amounts of heat from Earth’s equatorial areas to the poles and thus play important roles in determining the climates
of coastal regions. In addition, ocean currents and atmospheric circulation influence one another.

Factors Affecting Climate: Altitude and Land Topography

Climate in the world varies depending on these factors; latitude, altitude, distance to ocean, topography
and ocean currents.
Although all of these factors influenced climate, altitude and land topography greatly contribute to the
difference in global climate.
Altitude refers to the height above sea level. Temperature decreases with increasing height above sea level.
This makes the higher areas to have lower temperatures than the lower areas.
How does altitude affect climate? The altitude of a place affects the air temperature. Look at Figure 1. Mt.
Kilimanjaro is located in Africa and found near the equator. It stands 5895 m above sea level. The peak of this
mountain is covered by snow. How is this possible? That’s because the air temperature decreases as the attitude
increases.
Why is it that during summer, many people visit Baguio City? The reason is the cold climate there. It has an annual
average temperature of 16º C with the elevation of 1435 m above sea level.

In Mount Pulag, why do mountain climbers wear jackets and thick clothes when they go up the mountain?
At higher elevations, there is less air. The air molecules are farther apart, thus making the air less dense. Light air
cannot absorb much heat, making air temperature decreases.
Ultimately, the decrease in air temperature is due to the decrease in air pressure. The farther you are from the Earth's
surface and its gravitational forces, the less gravity you will experience. It allows the particles in the air to expand,
which reduces the air pressure even further. Air expands as it rises, and the fewer gas molecules including nitrogen,
oxygen, and carbon dioxide have fewer chances to bump into each other.
 While topography refers to the natural features or arrangement of an area like land, a mountain is an
example of topographical features of land. Mountainous areas greatly affect the amount of precipitation in a certain
region.

As you noticed, the picture shows the two sides of the mountain. One side is facing the wind blows and has
low temperature this side is called windward side. Here, the wind is blocked by the mountain, forcing it to move
upward. As it moves up, the water vapor condenses and forms clouds. This will result in precipitation on the
windward side.
The air moves down towards the opposite region called leeward side. On this side of the mountain, there is no
cloud formation. The cold air mass starts to absorb heat and becomes warm and dry. As a result, the area near the
leeward side becomes dry and has less precipitation. The dry region on the leeward side is called rain shadow.
Vegetation in this region includes desert plants and grassland.

Factors Affecting Climate: Ocean Current

Ocean currents move like rivers. They flow through the ocean in different directions. Currents are caused
by the wind, earthquakes and gravity. Some currents are warm and some currents are cold.
Figure 1 shows different loops or gyres of surface currents around the world. In the northern hemisphere,
the current flows in a clockwise direction. On the other hand, in the southern hemisphere, the current flow in counter
clockwise direction. These clockwise and counter clockwise of ocean currents are cause by Coriolis Effect.
 Ocean currents that flow away from the equator carry warm water. The air above the warm water has higher
temperature. When ocean currents that take along warm water towards a coastal region, the temperature of that
place increases, resulting to warm climate. For example the warm Kuroshio Current that comes from the
northeastern part of the Philippines brings warm water. This raises the temperature of places in the southeastern
part of Japan.
While, ocean currents that flow away from the poles carry cold water. The air above the cold water has
lower temperature. When ocean currents that bring cold water towards a coastal region, the temperature of that area
decreases, resulting to cold climate. For example the southern parts of Singapore and Indonesia have lower
temperatures because of the cold air brought by West Australian Current.
Therefore, ocean currents that bring along cold water inland make the climate cold. On the other hand,
ocean currents that take along warm water inland make the climate warm.
Currents also help shape beaches and coastlines. But currents also may help caused strong weather conditions, such
as hurricanes and typhoons.

Greenhouse
“It’s getting hot in here.” Here is the common quote we usually say about our climate. According to an
ongoing temperature analysis conducted by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), the
average global temperature on Earth has increased by a little more than 1° Celsius (2° Fahrenheit) since 1880. Two-
thirds of the warming has occurred since 1975, at a rate of roughly 0.15-0.20°C per decade. It’s proves that the
world is getting warmer.
Aside from that, carbon dioxide concentration levels are also rising, and they’re linked to industrialization.
According to Chasek, Pamela,PHD, a climate change specialist and government professor at Manhattan College,
explains how things have changed with industrialization. Pre-industrial levels of carbon were about 280 parts per
million, and only rose by about 20 parts per million over a thousand years prior to industrialization." Last March
2016, there were 403.94 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That ties directly to industrialization,
which ties directly to human impact.
What do you think are the reasons for these phenomena?
Greenhouse serves as the glass walls that trap the sun’s heat. It stays warm inside, even during the winter.
In the daytime, sunlight shines into the greenhouse and warms the plants and air inside. At nighttime, it's colder
outside, but the greenhouse stays warm inside.
Greenhouse gases form a blanket around our planet. If we didn’t have greenhouse gases then our planet
would be very cold and it wouldn’t be inhabitable for people, so having some greenhouse gases at a steady state
has evolved in our planet for billions of years.
What is a greenhouse gas? It is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range. It
causes the greenhouse effect on our planets. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor
(H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and ozone (O3).

How does it work? Solar energy absorbed at Earth's surface is radiated back into the atmosphere as heat.
As the heat makes its way through the atmosphere and back out to space, greenhouse gases absorb much of it. They
radiate the heat back to the Earth's surface, to another greenhouse gas molecule, or out to space.

How does carbon dioxide affect global temperature?

Carbon dioxide controls the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere and thus the size of the greenhouse
effect. This means that Earth's temperature will increase at least another 0.6 degrees Celsius (1degree Fahrenheit)
because of carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. It controls temperature because the molecules in the air absorb
infrared radiation. The carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere are virtually transparent to the visible
radiation that delivers the sun's energy to the earth.
 Based on the graph, it shows that when carbon dioxide increases, the global temperature also increases, thus
showing a direct proportionality relationship.
When the Industrial Revolution began, more emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
threatened all living things. Developed countries and developing countries became more dependent on fossil fuels.
Burning of fossil fuels is one of the main sources of carbon dioxide emission.
What would be the outcome if there is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? There would be an increase of
global temperature. So, when will you take action to help stop this phenomenon?
The climate is changing. Earth needs an antibiotic! How serious is the problem? As frequently quoted, “We
only have one Earth,” hence, we should take care of our planet not only for our own sake but more importantly for
the future generations.

Greenhouse effect
Human action like burning of fossil fuels causes an increase in global temperature. Some of the
consequences we are suffering now are melting of glacial masses, desertification of fertile area, flooding of coastal
areas, spreading of diseases and pandemics which are risks to our survival.
What is the difference between greenhouse effect and global warming?
The greenhouse effect is a natural process that occurs when gases in the lower Earth's atmosphere absorb
heat from the Earth’s surface. When the Sun's energy reaches the Earth's atmosphere, some of it is reflected to space
and the rest is absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases. This process makes Earth much warmer than it would
be without an atmosphere. It is one of the things that makes Earth a comfortable place to live.

What would happen if there was no greenhouse effect?

Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would have an average temperature of -18 °C and be covered in
ice. Life as we know it would not be able to survive.
Human action, however, has increased the presence of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere causing them
to retain more heat and to increase the temperature on the planet. This is what we know as global warming.
Global warming refers to a change in the Earth's climate that is causing it to heat up. It occurs when greenhouse
gases collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the earth's surface.It
is the long-term heating of Earth’s climate system due to human activities like fossil fuel burning, deforestation,
mining activities, illegal fishing and incineration of garbage which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels
in Earth’s atmosphere.

What are sources of greenhouse gases?

According to CNN Philippines posted last September 21, 2019, the Greenhouse gas emissions in the
Philippines are 55% comes from the Energy (that includes transportation, electricity and heat, buildings,
manufacturing and construction, fugitive emissions and other fuel combustion; 29% from the Agriculture
sector(Most farm-related emissions come in the form of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O); 9% from the
waste sector (consists of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills, industrial waste landfills, industrial wastewater
treatment systems, and facilities that operate combustors or incinerators for the disposal of nonhazardous solid
waste. Emissions from fossil fuel combustion at facilities with industrial waste landfills, and industrial wastewater
treatment systems are included in other sectors);and 7% from the Industrial process( that involve activities such as
metal manufacturing, industrial refrigeration and electricity distribution (poles and wires). GHG emissions from
halocarbons, a replacement for ozone-depleting substances used in refrigeration, are increasing.) Base on its figure
below, the Energy and Agriculture sectors are the top contributors of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in our country.

How does global warming relate to climate change?

Global warming and climate change are closely related and sometimes used interchangeably but technically
they are different.
Global warming applies to the long-term trend of rising average global temperatures due to human activities
and it is most measured as the average increase in Earth’s global surface temperature. It is caused mostly by
increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. And it causes climate patterns to change.
While Climate change is a critical global change, it is potentially one of the greatest threats to the environment, to
the biodiversity and to the quality of human life. Climate change is a broader term that reflects the fact that carbon
pollution does more than just warm our planet. It also describes changes in the state of the atmosphere over time
scales ranging from decades to millions of years. It also includes major changes in temperature, precipitation, or
wind patterns, among other effects, that occur over several decades or longer.
Global warming is one indication of the much larger problem of human-caused climate change.

El Niño and La Niña

What is the difference between El Niño and La Niña?
El Niño is a Spanish word which means little boy and connected with the celebration of the Christian
holiday marking the birth of Jesus. It is an abnormal and lengthy warming in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean.
This natural phenomenon occurs at irregular intervals of two to seven years and lasts for nine months or two years
at most. Usually, it starts at the end of the year or during the Christmas season (December to February).
 https://www.crystalinks.com/elnino.html

How does it work?

Normally, as trade winds move from east to west, they collect warm air. But when trade winds are
weakened, they cause the piling up of warm surface water and making the part of the Pacific Ocean warmer leading
to the El Niño phenomenon. This happens when the upwelling of colder water is blocked by the large quantities of
warm surface water.
Since the Pacific Ocean is to the East of the Philippines, the El Niño phenomenon will affect the country.
There will be an increase of the temperature in the Eastern part of the Pacific Ocean and it is expected that some
areas in the Philippines will experience this climatic phenomenon. While some areas in the country will experience
near to above average rainfall and some areas may experience drier than normal.
The El Niño phenomenon is characterized by extreme climatic conditions; extreme temperature rise with a
little rainfall, and at the opposite extreme, there is unusually heavy rainfall. It also causes the diseases related to
water scarcity or shortage such as diarrhea and skin diseases, paralytic shellfish poisoning, disorders associated
with high temperatures: heat cramps, heat exhaustion, exertional heat injury and heat stroke.
While La Niña is a Spanish word which means little girl. It is the opposite climatic disturbance to El Niño.
This natural phenomenon may, but does not always, follow El Niño events. It starts September or October that may
last for nine to twelve months but in some cases, it lasts for two years. This event is triggered by the cooling of the
eastern part of the Pacific Ocean that is why it is sometimes called “cold Pacific”.
Trade winds that move from east to west are strengthened. Upwelling of colder water intensifies. Moving
air brings along too much water vapor. When it reaches the landmass such as Philippines, precipitation is
experienced. There would be an increase of rainfall in some areas in the Philippines. For instance, areas that
experienced severe drought caused by El Niño may encounter above normal rainfall. But in some cases, areas that
experience dry season will have drier than normal conditions.
La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperature in the Equatorial Pacific which causes
increased numbers of tropical storms in the Pacific Ocean. When flooding occurs due to La Niña, water might get
contaminated by either bacteria or viruses that could infect people and may causes diseases like acute
gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, cholera and hepatitis A, leptospirosis, dengue and malaria.
How El Niño and La Niña phenomena affects global climate?
El Niño and La Niña events are natural occurrences in the global climate system resulting from variations
in ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. In turn, changes in the atmosphere impact the ocean temperatures
and currents. The system oscillates between warm (El Niño) to neutral or cold (La Niña) conditions.
El Niño is caused by the warming of sea surface temperature in the Pacific and can affect air and sea
currents. It creates stronger wind-shear and more-stable air over the Atlantic, which makes it harder for hurricanes
to form while La Niña affects atmospheric pressure and temperature, rainfall and ocean temperature. It usually has
a positive impact on the fishing industry of western South America

Guide for Self -Study 1

Study the illustration of windward and leeward below, and answer the questions that follow.

1. What happens to water vapor as it rises over the mountain?

___________________________________________________________________________
2. Which side of the mountain experiences low temperature?
___________________________________________________________________________
3. Which side of the mountain experiences high temperature?
________________________________________________________________________

4. What happens when air becomes warmer and drier as it moves down the leeward side?
___________________________________________________________________________
5. How does topography affect climate?
___________________________________________________________________________
Guide for Self-Study 2
Procedure: Study the map of ocean currents below and answer the guide questions that follow.

1. What are the different ocean currents that carry warm water? Give at least three examples.
___________________________________________________________________________
2. What are the different ocean currents that carry cold water? Give at least three examples.

_________________________________________________________________________
3. What kind of water does Greenland Current take along? Explain.

___________________________________________________________________________
4. How does Kuroshio Current affect the northeastern part and southeastern part of Japan?

___________________________________________________________________________
5. How do ocean currents affect climate?
______________________________________________________________
Guide for Self-Study 3
Direction:
Identify if the following statement is an important role of ocean currents or not. Write “IR” if it’s an important
role of ocean current and “NIR” if it’s not important role of ocean current. Write the answer before each
number.
_________1. Scientists study nutrient, sediment, and the concentration of chemicals which travel in the water
column, to understand how currents transport these materials locally and globally.
_________2. Ocean Currents are caused by the wind, earthquakes and gravity.
_________3. Clean-up operations for hazardous materials such as oil and fuel spill.
_________4. Different loops or gyres of surface currents around the world.
_________5. Search-and-rescue personnel can use real-time and predicted current patterns to determine where the
water may carry a missing person or floating object.
_________6. Swimming at the beach near rip or strong currents can be very dangerous.
_________7. Current measurements are important to merchandise shipping lack of this knowledge can lead to
collisions and delayed arrivals.
_________8. Clockwise and counter clockwise of ocean currents are cause by Coriolis Effect.
_________9. Caused strong weather conditions, such as hurricanes and typhoons.
_________10. Recreational and commercial fishers pay close attention to the timing and strength of currents to
maximize their chances of catching fish.

Guide for Self-Study 4

To summarize what you have learned, complete the following statements. Choose your answer in the word pool below.
1. _______________________ keeps us warm on planet Earth.
2. _______________________ results of excessive greenhouse gases.
3. The sources of greenhouse gases are _________________, _________________, _______________ and
_____________________.
4. _______________ is the greatest Greenhouse gas emission.
5. _______________ is the least Greenhouse gas emission.
6. Global warming is the continuing increase in the earth’s overall _________________.
7. _________________ is one of the greatest of all threats to the environment, biodiversity and human life.

Global warming Energy Industrial

Temperature Climate change Greenhouse effects
Wastes Agriculture
Guide for Self-Study 5

Direction: Compare El Niño and La Niña by filling the table below.

EL NIÑO LA NIÑA
What is happening?

When does it happen?

Where does it happen?

Why does it happen?