Chapter four

The role of climatology in various socio economic uses

Climate and Agriculture
Climate and Soil Climate and Vegetation
Climate and Humans
Climate and housing
Climate and clothing
Climate and Infrastructure
 The role of climatology in various socio-economic uses

Climate and Agriculture

• Agriculture is one of the riskiest of all enterprises.
Although this is the case it is the main economic
activities of the third world countries.
• For example, in Ethiopia more than 85 percent of
the populations depend entirely on Agriculture.
• Of all types of agricultural activities crop
production, which is limited to minimum
technological input and which is totally dependent
on natural conditions, takes the lion’s share.
• For agricultural climatology applications may be useful to know

the average number of hours of leaf wetness (dew on the leaves)

during different times of the growing season.

• However, since none of the weather monitoring systems observes

this variable the climate of leaf wetness cannot be assessed.

• We could list other variables that we might desire in decision

making but in the field of climatology we must realize that if we

can’t or don’t measure a particularly critical variable then we won’t

be able to make informed decisions in light of the statistical

probability or risk associated with that variable.

 Temperatures and crops

• Temperate latitude specific crops the growing season doesn’t start until the
crop is planted and ends when the crop reaches maturity or its development
is interrupted due to a freeze.

• Based on the freezing point of water. The damage to plants depends both on
how cold it gets and how long the temperature is below a given threshold.

• For a particular crop, the user may elect to work with the terms mild freeze
(32F), hard freeze (28F), and killing freeze (24F).

• There is only a 10 % probability that a killing freeze will after April 20. In
the fall there is a 10 % probability that a hard freeze will occur before
October 19.
• These numbers may represent a safe risk to the

producer in terms of avoiding serious freeze damage.

• Increases in drought and flood frequency are projected

to affect local crop production negatively.

• Warmer and more frequent hot days at increase insect

outbreaks impacting agriculture, forestry and

ecosystems.
• In many African regions, area suitable for
agriculture, the length of growing seasons and
yield potential are expected to decrease.
• In drier areas of Latin America, climate change
could lead salination and desertification of
agricultural land.
• Productivity of important crops is projected to
decrease and livestock productivity to decline.
 Pests and diseases affecting agriculture

In addition to the direct climatological effect on the agricultural
production, pests and diseases may have adverse effects on agricultural
production.


Pests are in most cases weather dependent. The local weather provides
favorable condition for breeding of insect pests.


Pests may be moved by wind down ward because of the flowing wind.


With reference to the formation of pests, moisture and heat are important
elements.

Locally available heat for e.g in tropical environment creates favorable

condition for breeding of insect pests.


In dry environments the availability of moisture is necessary for pests.
In tropical environment there is Desert locust requires
adequate moisture where T0 is relatively high.

It also requires sufficient precipitation in succeeding

days / intervals. This is said to be breeding fast and
require very large amount of food.

It consumes vast quantities of crops crop destruction.

Desert locusts can also flow (travel) thousands of Kms

down ward in few days.
General speaking peripheral areas of humid areas are usually
hit by desert locust.

Desert locusts shift (move) with the movement of ITCZ.E.g, in

the horn of Africa – the arid part of the region is hit by desert
locusts when sufficient moisture and relatively high T0 are
available.

Nowadays people are trying to forecast the direction of desert

locust flow i.e., their direction of flow can be forecasted before
10 or 30 days as early as desert locust hits certain environment.
 Desert locust may not be important in Ethiopian
environment but in humid peripheral areas where
there is little rain and very high temperature.

Desert locust is common in Africa, Somalia,

relatively humid part of Arabian Peninsula, etc.

Desert locusts are carried by winds into the wind

direction .They spread over a very large area.
 The effect of high /maximum temperature

• Under very high temperature the rate of

evaporation exceeds rate of absorption.
• This may result in premature loss of leaves or
fruit. Winds speed up transpiration and result
in dehydration of plant tissues.
• The consequence might be crop failure. The
problem of high temperatures can be solved
under field conditions by increasing the
moisture supply through irrigation or by
moisture conserving tillage practices.
 The effect of low/ minimum temperature

Low temperature is harmful to crop production due to frost. There are two

kinds of frost. These are advection (air mass) frost and radiation frost.
1.Advection (air mass) frost; It results when temperatures at the surface in an air mass

is below freezing. It is common in winter in middle and high latitudes. It is an

agricultural problem in relation to crops which are planted in winter. It affects the

quality of crops by freezing temperature.

2. Radiation frost; It occurs on clear nights with a temperature inversion and usually

results in formation of ice crystal on cold objects. It differs from freeze damage in

degree and in its spotty occurrences. The hazard is greatest at critical growth stage

(flowering stage).
 Combating frost (frost protection) This may include:
A. Identification of the type of crops to be grown. This is
because certain crops are sensitive to frost. Eg. Coffee is
very sensitive to frost condition but there are other crops
which are capable of with standing frost.
B. Site Selection: e.g. in case of valleys, lower grounds,
rugged topography (they are constantly hit by frost)
usually frost condition is prevailing. So these areas should
be used for crops that can withstand frost action.
C. The critical period (time) of the growing season
flowering period. At this time all the possible measures
should be taken to avoid frost.
D. Placing burners (firing wood) in a given crop fields.

 This may raise the temperature of the overlying air. But the cost-
benefit analysis should be considered (taken in to account).
 if the cost of burning wood is higher than the benefit gained from
avoiding of frost , then the practice is unnecessary (may not be
implemented.
E. Creating smoke screen:-

 smoke will be screened over the crop fields to raise the

temperature of the overlying air below the smoke screen.
 It is to create a blanket like screen to arrest the lose of temperature
from the ground via the air-to increase the T0 of air and soil.
 Climate and soil

• Soil moisture is the most important factors in crop production.

There is optimum soil moisture conditions for crop development

just as there are optimum temperature conditions.

• Because crop plants obtain their water supplies primarily through

their root system, maintenance of soil moisture is the most

compelling problem in agriculture.

• Excessive amount of water in the soil alter various chemical and

biological processes, limiting the amount of oxygen and increasing

the formation of compounds that are toxic to plant roots.

 Cont..

• The underlying cause of inadequate soil

aeration may be poor vertical drainage as well
as excessive rainfall. Therefore, conditions can
be improved to some extent by drainage
practices.
• On the other hand, a high rate of percolation of
water through the soil tends to remove plant
nutrients and inhibit normal plant growth.
• Cover crops and addition of humus to the soil
help to alleviate this problem.
 Climate and Vegetation

• Global warming is likely to increase the extent of forest fires, as occurred

recently in Russia, Southern Europe, California (USA) and Africa.

• A recent study of various forest conditions in Russia suggests that a 2°C

rise in temperature could increase the area affected by forest fires

• Climate change is an added stress to already threatened habitats,

ecosystems and species in Africa, and is likely to trigger species

migration and lead to habitat reduction.

• Up to 50 percent of Africa’s total biodiversity is at risk due to reduced

habitat and other human-induced pressures.

 Climate and housing

• Buildings do not control the climate; they can

only provide protection from such elements of
nature as the wind, rain or sun etc.
• However, they can passively modify the
internal climate, even though they are affected
by the external conditions.
• Building materials selected from natural
resources may be considered in terms of their
climatic suitability and performance, and the
means by which cultures have utilized thermal
properties of these materials.
 Onat (1992) classifies the factors that determine traditional construction in this country as follows:

Geographical factors:
• Geographical factors include climate, site, geology (abundance or shortage
of specific building materials), the potential of soil for agriculture and
appropriate way of farming etc.
• Climatic solution can be analyzed in terms of orientation, structure, plan
layout, settlement form and use of materials. Site is evaluated in terms of
slope, type of rock, soil, vegetation etc.
Historical Factors:
By historical factors it is meant that traditional architecture is influenced in
one way or another by the past. Existing buildings are references for
craftsmen in their works.
 Cont..

Technological and constructional factors:

Technological and constructional factors are the availability
and choice of materials and construction techniques.
These factors influence and modify the form of the
buildings in a settlement.
Socio- Cultural Factors:
Safety, religion and economics are the determinants of
socio-cultural factors in traditional construction.
Some basic needs and beliefs, family size and structure,
position of women, privacy and social organization and
relations are also some of the important aspects of social
and cultural factors that affect the built form.
 Climate and clothing

• Markham (1944) agrees that changes in climate have occurred

since the dawn of civilization.

• The discovery of coal and the invention of the fire, by which man

was able to create a 'private environment', did more to open new

(and colder) regions for population than any other factor.

• Since increased enormously the range of environments in which

they live by the acquired and transmitted skills involved in

clothing, shelter, heating of dwellings and, finally, their air-

conditioning. Man has achieved this by providing himself with

clothing and shelter.

 Cont…

• The theoretical function of the service-man's

clothing is two-fold; first, to aid in maintaining
the body's heat balance without endangering the
thermo regulatory processes, and secondly, to
protect the skin from mechanical and biological
injury.
• In practice, however, the protection of the fighting
man in the tropics forces a compromise between
his effective role and his thermal balance.
• The preservation of thermal balance in the tropics
can only be achieved solider.
 Cont…

• In the desert, with its high diurnal temperatures and nocturnal cold,

evaporative cooling in the daytime is reduced by load-carriage and the

requirement to protect the man's skin from the terrain, thorns, radiant

energy and dust.

• Cold weather clothing calls for wind proof outer garments to prevent heat

loss by convection, of durable material to minimize further heat escaping.

• When the ambient temperature reaches or exceeds the human core

temperature of 37 °C, there are well documented physiological effects on

the human body, posing risks to some organ systems and

• Environment is affected by clothing
 Climate and transport

• Risks: A higher frequency of droughts and severe precipitation

events will increase the risk of flooding and erosion.

• When coupled with more severe storms, the use of impervious

surfaces amplifies flooding risks by diverting storm water into
concentrated flows.

• Flooding and erosion damage transportation infrastructure,

interfere with traffic, and cause economic disruption.

• More frequent flooding also poses numerous public health

concerns that require investment in infrastructure to avoid.
• Strategies: Improved storm water management could help
control these issues by diverting flows away from
vulnerable areas and into treatment facilities.

• Urban forests and “green” spaces can both reduce

concentrated flow and erosion.

• Subsurface holding tanks in some areas, and in others the

city has provided incentives for private entities to install
smaller, inexpensive stormwater holding systems and to use
pervious surfaces.
 Climate and Animals

• Food and water security will be one of the other priorities for

humankind in the 21st century.

• Over the same period the World will experience a change in the

global climate that will cause shifts in impact on local and global

agriculture of climate change.

• Can be assumed that as in the case of humans, climate change, in

particular global warming, is likely to greatly affect the health of farm

animals, both directly and indirectly.

• Direct effects include temperature-related illness and death, and the

morbidity of animals during extreme weather events.

• High environmental temperatures may compromise
reproductive efficiency of farm animals in both sexes
and hence negatively affect milk, meat and egg
production and the results of animal selection.
• Population is located in the tropics and it has been
estimated that heat stress may cause economic losses in
about 60% of the dairy farms around the world.
• The milk yield losses positively related with milk yield
of cows. The increase in milk yield increases sensitivity
of cattle to thermal stress.
• An animal to adapt to thermal environment or
Acclimation is response developed by the animal
to an individual source of stress within the
environment.
• The acclimation of the animals to meet the
thermal challenges results in the reduction of feed
intake and alteration of many physiological
functions that are linked with health and the
alteration of productive.
• Acclimation to high environmental temperatures
involves responses that lead to reduce heat load.
• Climate change affects the productivity of vegetation and the

composition of grassland species.

• Droughts, in particular, cause a shift to less productive, more

drought-tolerant plant species.  

• This change, in turn, affects the presence and behavior of

species that feed on such vegetation,

• often leading to population collapses within wildlife species, as

recorded in Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe, where 1500

African elephants died after severe drought in 1991–1992.

• The restoration of temperate grasslands is now a
major conservation focus.
Changes recorded in grassland ecosystems include:
Higher temperatures and less rain in summer,

Increased rates of evaporation,

Decreased soil moisture

And an increase in the frequency and severity of

droughts.