The 4th Element

When I covered the chapter on Weather and Climate, I spoke about 3 elements of weather, namely temperature, rainfall, and wind.

However, there are actually a number of other elements which are not mentioned at all in your textbook. This post will introduce one of these other elements: sunlight.

One thing you'll need to know for your exam is the way in which these 4 elements of weather are interrelated. In other words, how do these elements affect one another?

Sunlight affects temperature. The more sunlight an area receives, the higher the temperature.

Wind and rainfall also affect temperature, but in a different way. The stronger the wind, or the higher the rainfall, the lower the temperature. This is why the air tends to be cooler on windy or rainy days.

Temperature can also affect wind. Higher temperature means that the air is warmed and rises, creating an area of low pressure. The higher the temperature, the warmer the air is, creating an area of very low pressure. Likewise, the lower the temperature, the colder the air is, creating an area of very high pressure. The greater the difference in pressure, the stronger the wind. So strong winds can be formed if you have warm areas of very low pressure close to cool areas of very high pressure .

And lastly, temperature can affect rainfall. Higher temperatures lead to an increase in evaporation, thus resulting to an increase in the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere. More water vapour present in the atmosphere ultimately leads to an increase in rainfall.