EXPERIENCING NATURE

THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF WEATHER

Weather is all phenomena that occur in the earth atmosphere or planet. Weather is usually a
phenomenon activity within a few days. Average wheather over a longer period of time is known
climate. The weather that occurs in an area is influenced by several elements, such a temperature, air
pressure, humidity, wind and rainfall.

The influence of weather and climate on life can be seen from the diversity of flora and fauna that
exist on the earth's surface.  Apart from influencing the types of flora and fauna, it also affects
human behavior and life patterns.  The behavior and patterns of life in the tropics are certainly
different from the behavior and patterns of human life in subtropical and polar climates.  For
example, humans who live in tropical climates have livelihoods as farmers, while humans who live
in arctic climates have livelihoods as hunters.

What are biometerologists?

Biometerologist is someone with special education, uses scientific principles to explain,

understand, observe or predict phenomena of the earth's atmosphere and / or how those
atmospheric phenomena affect the earth and its life. The branch of meteorology that studies the
relationship of weather to living things is biometeorology.
What are the possible health effects of some kinds of wind?

Wind is the movement of air horizontally or parallel to the surface of the earth which occurs
because of the difference in air pressure from one place to another .

Possible Health effects

Give coolness
   One of the factors why mountains and beaches are such a comfortable place is because of the
unspoiled air.  The breeze on the beach and also in the mountains can provide coolness for our
bodies.  Wind can dispel cold due to hot air in our bodies.

How might other weather conditions influence human health?

1.Excessive Hot Weather Can Trigger Heart Disease

 Significantly increased air temperature can affect heart health conditions.  And if
someone is dehydrated and exposed to extreme heat, it can potentially trigger damage to
the brain.  This certainly affects human behavior.

 2. Climate Change Accelerates the Growth of Water-related Diseases

 In some developing countries, high rainfall can threaten clean water supplies and
increase the risk of diseases such as acute dehydration and diarrhea for example. 
Whereas every year diarrhea is recorded to cause death in approximately 760,000
children under five.  Not to mention the problem of industrial contamination which can
affect water quality.

3. Extreme cold weather causes decreased immunity

 Apart from extreme heat, excessive cold weather can also cause the body's immune
system to decrease so that it is prone to disease.  During this transition period, not only
humans cannot always leave the house, but the bacteria in the body will also be trapped
and cause their immune power to decline.

 4. Sunny Days and Cool Air Can Improve Mood

 Not only affects the physical, weather changes also have an impact on human
psychology.  An easy example is when the weather on a sunny day is added with cool
air, then automatically we will feel happy and our mood or enthusiasm can increase when
we want to do activities.  Sunny weather stimulates positive energy for our body and
brain.

 5. Extreme Weather Can Cause Psychological Illness

 In line with the previous point, extreme weather changes can also cause psychological
disease for humans.  For example, those who live in areas prone to natural disasters.  Of
course there will be a lot of climate change as well as traumatic itself that causes
psychological illness.
For people who live in an area that has four seasons, they must admit that winter does have its own
charm, the first sight in the morning seeing buried snow that no one has touched is irreplaceable.
However, for some people with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) winter becomes unpleasant.

Distraction that comes in certain seasons

Seasonal Affective Disorder is one of the categories of depression that occurs only during certain
seasons. In some people, the symptoms of SAD will start in the fall, which is a transitional season from
warm, dry days to windy days, with lots of rain and temperatures dropping drastically. These
symptoms will intensify when winter arrives. What happens when people have SAD?

Symptoms of SAD are the same as some of the criteria needed to be diagnosed as serious depression,
such as depressive moods, feelings of strong hopelessness, loss of energy and concentration, to
suicidal thoughts. Some of the symptoms that distinguish SAD from other depression include: feeling
heavy in the legs and arms, frequent oversleeping, the desire to eat snacks continuously, to
relationship problems. So, what is the role of seasons and how can this be?

Hormones that make us happy and tired

Our bodies need sunlight to form vitamin D naturally, this vitamin has an important role in
maintaining a healthy body, especially bones. Unconsciously, sun exposure on our skin helps our
bodies produce vitamin D by burning the cholesterol in the skin. Apart from providing vitamin D
intake, the sun also has a strong impact on our mood.

The human body has a hormone that plays a role in regulating our mood and "freshness", namely
serotonin, and another hormone that regulates our biological sleep schedule, namely melatonin.
These two hormones have an inverse relationship, when one hormone goes up, the proportion of the
other hormone will fall. The sun has an important role in the release of these hormones in our body.

When our bodies are exposed to sunlight, our brains will be stimulated and produce the hormone
serotonin which keeps us fresh during the day and in a good mood. The release of the hormone
serotonin will decrease as it gets dark, because the brain is no longer stimulated to produce serotonin.
In this situation, the body will release the hormone melatonin which will slowly send a signal to the
rest of our body that it's time to rest.

Our body's perception of sunlight affects the production of these two important hormones. The
overall effect is "downtime" at night and "uptime" during the day.
Sunshine is scarce

For example, in Germany, at the peak of winter time the sun only appears for about seven to eight
hours in a day. Winter days are also not always clear, fog or clouds often appear to cover the sun.
Especially when the days have to be passed with activities in the office or school.

Due to the limited possibilities for outdoor activities, many people choose to spend more time
indoors. The factors above are believed to be one of the many factors that amplify seasonal
depression in people who have it.