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Theme:
Key Idea:
2 - Physical processes & relationships between people and environments
1. Weather and climate.
Lesson 1:
What physical factors lead to variations in climate in different
regions of the world?
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Key Definitions
Weather describes the day to day state of the atmosphere. The Climate describes the average weather
conditions recorded over an extended period of time, usually month by month. The two key variables that
affect climate are Temperature and Rainfall.
Factors affecting Climate
The climate will be affected by a range of Physical factors as
follows:
 Latitude. At the equator, energy from the sun (solar
radiation) will strike the planet at almost a right angle.
Energy is therefore concentrated on a smaller area
creating higher temperatures. At the poles, the energy
strikes the earth at an angle meaning the energy is
spread over a wider area creating lower temperatures.

Altitude. Solar radiation passes through the
atmosphere without warming the air and heats the earth’s surface directly. This heat then warms the
air above it which then rises and cools as it moves further away from the surface and close to space.
Therefore temperatures will drop by 1oc for every 100m you climb away from sea level. Changes in
altitude will also create more rainfall.

Ocean Currents can deliver warm water to cooler parts of the planet (as the Gulf Stream does for the
UK). This increases temperatures and provides more water for evaporation and rainfall.

Continentality. As a land mass warms up and cools down quicker than an ocean, the further away from
the sea a place is, the quicker it will warm up and cool down. Therefore temperatures will alternate
between very high summer temperatures and very low winter temperatures (known as a continental
climate). As the sea warms and cools much more slowly, coastal areas will have a more stable climate
but higher rainfall as they are closer to sources of water (known as a maritime climate)
Task: Look at the map. Make a note of how each of the above factors will affect the climate of these places.
London, UK
Manaus, Brazil
Equator
Links:
Read through the first three pages on this link to BBC GCSE Bitesize:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/weather_climate/climate_rev1.shtml
Theme:
Key Idea:
2 - Physical processes & relationships between people and environments
1. Weather and climate.
Lesson 2:
Why does it rain?
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Rainfall
There are a number of ways in which rainfall occurs but the basic mechanism behind rainfall remains. The flow
chart on the right explains this. In this lesson you will be asked to create a visual diagram to show this process
– make sure you know it!
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• Air at the surface is warmed and therefore rises
• As the warm air rises, it cools
• Water vapour in the cooling air condenses into water droplets
• These droplets collect together forming clouds
• When the droplets become large enough they fall as rain
Types of Rainfall
In order for rainfall to occur, warm moist air must be forced to rise and there are three common ways in which
this can happen.
1. Convectional Rainfall occurs when warmth from the sun warms the air sufficiently to cause it to
start to rise. This typically occurs in the UK on hot summer’s days creating Thunderstorms or every
day in the Tropics.
2. Relief Rainfall occurs when air flowing towards mountains is forced to rise by them. As the air rises
it cools causing condensation, clouds and rainfall high in the mountains. On the leeside (far side) of
the mountains a rainshadow is created as the descending dry air does not cause rain
3. Frontal Rainfall occurs when two air masses collide. The warmer air mass will be forced to rise
above the cooler air mass creating the conditions required for condensation, cloud formation and
rainfall.
Links:
Types of rainfall explained here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/geography/physical_processes/weather_climate/revision/8/
Theme:
Key Idea:
2 - Physical processes & relationships between people and environments
1. Weather and climate.
Lesson 3:
What are the causes of weather hazards associated with both
high and low atmospheric pressure?
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Tri-Cellular Model
The Hadley Cell
At the equator where the sun’s energy is at its most intense, the air is warmed. There is lots of evaporation
and the warm, wet air rises. As it rises it cools causing the water vapour to condense into water droplets that
create large clouds. Heavy intense rainfall then occurs. The air is now cooler and much drier and heads towards
the poles, descending as it does so. As it descends towards the surface it warms creating warm and dry
conditions on the Tropic of Cancer/Capricorn.
Task:
What sort of ecosystem will develop on the Equator and what weather hazards will occur there?
___________________________
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What sort of ecosystem will develop on the Tropic of Cancer and what weather hazards will occur there?
___________________________
Links:
___________________________
Watch this youtube clip which explains what happens in the Hadley Cell.
http://youtu.be/mUHN4Y0x2LI
Theme:
Key Idea:
2 - Physical processes & relationships between people and environments
1. Weather and climate.
Lesson 4:
What are the causes of weather hazards associated with both
high and low atmospheric pressure?
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Synoptic Charts
A synoptic chart is any map that summarises atmospheric conditions (temperature, precipitation, wind speed
and direction, atmospheric pressure and cloud coverage) over a wide area at a given time. They display an
overview of the weather conditions observed from many different weather stations, satellites etc.
Common Symbols
Task: Draw the symbols in to the left hand column to match the description on the right. You can choose
from the following symbols:
Symbol
Description
Isobars are lines on a weather map joining together places of equal atmospheric
pressure. The closer the isobars are together the windier it is.
Warm fronts are formed when warm air rises over a mass of cold air. As the warm air
rises, rainfall will occur.
Cold fronts are formed where a cold air mass catches and pushes under a warm air mass.
When the warm air is pushed upwards it will rain heavily.
Occluded fronts occur at the point where a cold front takes over a warm front or the
other way around. Occluded fronts bring changeable weather conditions.
Low & High Pressure Systems
+
A Low Pressure System will occur where air is rising up through
the atmosphere. As air masses are drawn in to replace the rising
air, fronts are created at the boundaries of these air masses
Where you have a Low Pressure system with obvious fronts it is
known as a Depression (see map on left)
Task: Using the information in the table above, what sort of
weather conditions are likely to occur in a Depression? _______
_____________________________________________________
A High Presure System will occur where air is descending through
the atmosphere to the surface. As more and more air builds up at
the centre of the high pressure it is forced to spread across the
surface creating a huge area of slowly moving air (see map on
left). This is also known as an Anticyclone.
Task: Using the information in the table above, what sort of
weather conditions are likely to occur in an Anticyclone? ______
_____________________________________________________
Links:
BBC Bitesize on Isobars & Weather Fronts
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/weather_climate/weather_systems_rev2.shtml
Theme:
Key Idea:
2 - Physical processes & relationships between people and environments
1. Weather and climate.
Lesson 5:
How do extreme weather hazards affect different groups of
people?
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Extreme Weather Events
Weather events such as storms, heatwaves, snowstorms occur all the time but some of these can be defined
as Extreme Events. There are two definitions of an extreme event:


A weather event that is unusually large and causes widespread destruction or loss of life. (e.g.
Cyclone Nargis in 2008 that killed over 200,000 people)
A weather event that does not usually occur in that location (e.g. droughts in the Tropical Rainforest
of South East Asia during El Nino years)
Hurricanes
Hurricane Formation
These are Atlantic based super
storms that are also known as
Cyclones in the Indian Ocean or
Typhoons in the Pacific Ocean.
They are extremely low
pressure weather systems that
are characterised by strong
winds, heavy rainfall and storm
surges.
Warm air rising over a warm ocean causes
condensation, clouds and rainfall – eventually
creating a cluster of thunderstorms.
Strong vertical currents of air continue develop as
the warm air continues to rise, creating even
more thunderstorms.
This rising air drags air from around the storm in
to replace it and due to the planet’s rotation,
these winds & the whole storm begin to rotate.
Gale force winds (35mph) develop as the storm is
reclassified a Tropical Storm powered by warm
ocean waters of 26oc or above.
Task: For each stage in the
process below, draw a diagram
to represent that stage of the
Hurricane’s formation. The first
one has been done for -you.
The LINK at the bottom of this
page will be very useful to you
in this Task!
Links:
As the windspeed reach 75 mph, an eye up to 30
miles wide develops at the centre of the storm
signifying the development of a Hurricane.
As the Hurricane makes landfall, the strong winds
push a wall of water known as a storm surge
inland creating widespread flooding.
Once it is on land, the Hurricane loses it’s power
source (the warm ocean) and the wind speeds
drop rapidly, though the rain can continue for
days.
BBC News animation on Hurricane formation. This is critical for the task for this lesson’s prep!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk_FVXVnE2I
Theme:
Key Idea:
2 - Physical processes & relationships between people and environments
1. Weather and climate.
Lesson 6:
How do extreme weather hazards affect different groups of
people?
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New Orleans & Hurricane Katrina
Task: Using these maps, can you suggest some reasons why 80% of New Orleans was flooded by Hurricane
Katrina?
Links:
Live Science http://www.livescience.com/22522-hurricane-katrina-facts.html
Theme:
Key Idea:
2 - Physical processes & relationships between people and environments
1. Weather and climate.
Lesson 7:
How do extreme weather hazards affect different groups of
people?
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Case Study 7: Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina Facts & Figures
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Causes of the Hurricane (7 step process)
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Effects
Social
Economic
Environmental
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Management
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Which groups were particularly badly affected?
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Links:
The documentary on Hurricane Katrina watched in class can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BVdlXUIo9c