1)

WORLD POPULATION INCREASE The population of the world is “exploding”, increasing of 78 million
people per year.
 Is expected to grow to 10 billion by 2083

 The increase in population means that more space, food, supplies are needed

OVER AND UNDER-POPULATION If the number of people living in an area is greater than the
resources available to maintain an adequate standard of living, it is over-populated. (I.e. Singapore
and some rural parts of Africa) If the number of people living in an area is less than is needed to
make full use of the resources available, it is under-populated. (I.e. Australia)

NIGERIA: OVER-POPULATION 175 million people of which 60% living under 1 dollar per day.
 Over population lead to:
 Not enough housing
 Water and air pollution
 Shortage of water and food supplies
 High crime rates
 Not enough health care
 Congested roads
AUSTRALIA: UNDER-POPULATION

 Australia and USA has more or less the same area but a very different population size,
import, exports, oil and natural gas production
 Australia indeed is mostly covered by deserts, and many people think that it wouldn’t be
good to welcome other permanent migrants.

CHANGES IN POPULATION SIZE

 Natural population change is calculated by subtracting death rate from the birth rate
 Overall population change considers also net migration (if it is positive the population is
growing, if is negative the population is decreasing).
 The demographic transition model is a model that shows change of the population size. It
is based on what happened in western Europe and in north America during last centuries.
 Most of the world’s population growth will take place in LEDCs in Africa and Asia. Instead
most of MEDCs aren’t expected to grow that much in population.

 There is this difference because in LEDCs people have more children in order to gain more
money, because in LEDCs families are less informed don’t plan their families, don’t have the
same availability to contraceptives that there is in MEDCs and due to religious and social
factors.
NIGER: HIGH RATE OF POPULATION GROWTH
 Land locked country in west Africa

 Almost half of its population under 15, growth rate of 3.4% has one of the highest fertility
rate

 The population is increasing because death rate is falling due to improvement in health care
food and water supplies and sanitation that lead to less diseases, also related to
malnutrition.

RUSSIA: POPULATION DECLINE

 Russia’s population is expected to continue to decrease because its alcohol-related and
heart attack deaths are very high and because a lot of people want to emigrate from Russia
and not many people want to immigrate.

 Another reason is that women don’t want to have many children because it’s a difficult
project and so Vladimir Putin has decided to increase benefits for mothers. This project has
effectively worked.

POPULATION POLICIES
 Government earn money through taxes which re needed to sustain the current population
and also next generations

 Examples:
 Singapore: it has few natural resources but is highly economically advanced. Due to
few resources its increasing population was becoming a problem. In order to solve
the problem Singapore’s government introduced in 1970 the “stop at two” policies
which included taxes and disadvantages for a third child. This decreased the fertility
rate at less than 2 by 1980, this, in future, would have led to a decreasing working
population. As consequence government encouraged a rapid population growth.
 China: in 1970s China’s government introduced the “Later, Longer, Fewer” policies
which encouraged families to delay their first child, decreasing birth rate. These
policies were still not enough so China’s government decided to introduce the “one
family, one child” policy. The fertility rate decreased from 5.8 to 1.7 but, as
Singapore, there was the problem of a shrinking working population. In order to
 solve it China’s government decided to change the policies: they let some families
have two children and encouraged to have only male children.

POPULATION MIGRATION
 Migrants are people that move from one place to another they can be immigrant or
emigrant.

 Types of migrants:
 Asylum seeker: leaves for fear of persecution, they asked for the permission.
 Refugee: leaves for fear of their lives, don’t know where to go and usually is worse.
 Illegal migrant: enter in a country to live and work without any permission.
 Economic migrant: moves for more than a year to work in a different country.
 Internal migrant: moves in another place to work within the same country

 Push factors: features of their home area that makes them want to go (i.e. unemployment,
natural disasters, few schools, civil wars…)

 Pull factors: features of their destination that makes them want to move usually are
economic factors, unless it is a forced migrant (i.e. better paid jobs, water supply, freedom
of speech…)
IMPACTS OF MIGRATION
 The wealthiest countries have many problems such as an ageing population, a shrinking
workforce, workforce that lacks some skills….

 To solve these problems they encouraged immigration. This has both positive factor and
negative factors for both the migrant and the indigenous people of the migrant’s
destination

Positive impacts Negative impacts

O -Can send money to -Loss of contact
ri family with family and
gi -The migrant learns friends
n new skills -away from home
 for a long period
of time

-Chance to obtain -May be low paid

de job job
sti -Chance to earn -May be exploited
na money -May be racial
ti -Chance of better problems
o quality of life -May be language
n problems

 The biggest internal migration of the world is taking place in China many villages have been
abandoned due to urban sprawl. Until 1978 less than 20% of china’s population lived in
cities, now more than 75%.

 This is taking place because young people don’t want to farm because it’s difficult and don’t
have good wages.
QATAR: INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION
Qatar ha experienced a rapid grow due to which now it's the second country of the world
with the highest GDP per capita.
Because of this richness the indigenous population either don't have the necessary skills or
don't need to work. As consequence is difficult to find local people doing low-paid jobs
such as taxi drivers or waitresses.

FINDING OUT ABAUT POPULATION

Some countries carry out census to estimate the population. They use the pyramid graphic
to give information about three age classes:
◦ the youngest age group 0-14 years, which are young dependents

◦ the age group 15-64 years, which is the workforce, dependents lean on them

◦ the eldest group 65+ years, which are old dependents.

URBANISATION
Urbanisation is the increase in proportion of people living in towns and cities due to push
and pull factors. This leads to rural depopulation.
Urbanisation takes place mainly due to 3 types of factors:
 Physical factors: drought, natural disasters…
 Economic factors: more and better paid jobs, the need of making a life…
 Social and political factors: better education and health care, safety, more housing.
Urbanisation took place in MEDCs in 19th and 20th century and now is taking place in LEDCs.
Although another process, known as counter-urbanisation, is now taking place in most
MEDCs.

IMPACTS OF URBAN GROWTH

Urbanisation is taking place rapidly in countries in Africa Asia and South America, creating
some problems:
 putting a great strain on infrastructures.
 Creating a great difference between reach and poor (i.e. rich live in well-built house
whilst poor live in squatter settlements).
 Causing rural depopulation which leads to some problems in countryside.
 Traffic congestion leads to air, water and noise pollution
Governments try to solve these problems by:
 Offering low interest loans and simplifying ownership of lands so people can build more
houses
 Simplifying the access to services such as water and electricity supplies
 Creating greater opportunities in rural areas preventing them from migrating to urban
areas
 Improving services such as roads, dormitories, subways sewages…

LIMA, PERU: URBANISATION

About 30% of Peru’s population lives in Lima, in 1940s only 10% lived in urban areas
Family members usually work for a part of the year in large cities, but now young men and
women are deciding to migrate permanently to Lima to find better jobs and education for
their children.
 2)
VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES Earthquakes are triggered by sudden jerking movement of the
rocks under Earth’s surface. Where this takes place is known as focus or origin whilst the point on
the surface just above the origin is known as the epicentre.
 Scientists use the Richter scale to measure the strength of an earthquake. It was invented
by Charles R. in 1935, it goes from 0 to 12, each number of magnitude is ten times stronger
than the one before

 A volcano is formed when a crack in the Earth's surface allows molten rock, solid rock and
gasses to escape on the surface.

 There are two types of volcanoes: shield and strato volcanoes. Strato ones are the most
destructive ones, as they erupt with a great violence. This because there is a great built-up
pressure.

 Volcanoes can also be active (if erupt regularly), dormant (if don't erupt regularly but have
some activity inside) or extinct (if there isn't any activity).

PLATE TECTONICS
 Earth is formed by a inner core, an outer core, a mantle and the crust. The crust is formed
of many plates that, because of convection forces in the mantel generated by the heat,
moves towards, forwards or alongside each other.

 Near plate boundaries it's more possible to detect an earthquake with respect to the
middle of tectonic plates.

 For each movement there are different effects:

o Subduction: when two plates moves toward each other, the heaviest will sink and
will melt, this process creates a trench, can cause earthquakes and strato volcanoes
o spreading: when to plates move forward each other, magma will move out of the
mantle and will solidify creating new crust, this process creates ridges, can cause
earthquakes and shield volcanoes.
CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF EQARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES

 Most of the volcanoes and earthquakes take place near plate boundaries. However due to
some weaknesses of the crust is possible that a particularly hot flow (called hot spots) of
magma digs a hole through the crust and forms a volcano

 for example the Hawaii islands are volcanoes generated by the movement of a hot spot.
VOLCANOES: HAZARDS AND OPPORTUNITIES

 Many people live on or near a dangerous volcano. There are many consequences of an
eruption: ash spreads causing problems to flights, ice that is formed on the volcano melts
creating mudflows and lahars that destroy the enviroment, the explosion and the lava
 destroys many buildings, roads, infrastructures, forests, crops and kill people and animals.
(i.e. Mount St.Helens in USA or a volcano in Iceland)

 volcanoes have also benefits: the ashes that land on the soil make it fertile, giving local the
possibility to farm, thanks to the heat electricity can be generated, some mineral (such as
sulphur) are brought near Earth's surface and so can be extracted and volcanoes are also a
great tourism attraction.
REDUCING THE IMPACTS

 It's impossible to predict earthquakes so the only possibility to reduce impacts is to prevent
them. This can be done by building structures that can withstand during a powerful event
(with deep foundations, strong walls, low structures, boilers firmly fixed...) and by teaching
people how to behave during an earthquake.

 Volcanologists can predict, not exactly, when there will be a major eruption, thank to some
indicators such as small lava flows, gas rising, changes in the chemical composition of the
air and the soil near the volcano... . The predictions are becoming more and more precise
thanks to the new technologies.
HAITI: EARTHQUAKE
 on the 12th of January 2010 a severe earthquake occurred near Haiti's capital. This killed
more than 220 000 people, destroyed many building and infrastructures letting many
people displaced, caused problems with transports, polluted water causing cholera...

 the rebuilding of Haiti is slow and goes on thanks to aids from other countries.
MOUNT SINABUNG, INDOESIA: VOLCANO

 Indonesia is located on the “Ring of Fire” and, of it' 17 000 islands the most dangerous is
Sumatra. Mount Sinabung erupted in 2010 and than again in September 2013. this
eruption lasted for many months, until in 2014 the government said that it was safe. But it
wasn't, indeed the volcano erupted again causing 16 deaths

 there are many reason why people don't want to leave: because they have always lived
there, because they don't have what is needed to leave that place, because don't think that
there is any danger...
WATER CYCLE

 Once rain has reached ground many routes are possible:

o Condensation: water is blown by winds toward mountains which force the vapour
to rise and condense into water.
o Evaporation: it is stored in sea and, due to high temperatures and hot winds, it
evaporates back in the atmosphere
o Interception: some water intercepts trees or plants and evaporates back in the
atmosphere, some reaches the ground and, through infiltration, it is stored as soil
 water, or, through deep percolation it is stored as ground water, some other flows
into rivers.
o Evapotranspiration: a plant can take it from the soil through roots and then let it
evaporate back in the atmosphere through transpiration
o After reaching the ground it can flow to rivers through overland flow.

 The drainage basin is al the surface influenced by a river, its boundaries are called
watershed and usually are on the top of mountains or hills and usually divide do rivers.
THE WORK OF RIVERS

 Erosion: streams and rivers erode in various way:

o hydraulic action: the water that flows can remove materials from the bed and the
banks of the river
o Corrasion (abrasion): the load of the river acts like sandpaper and grinds away the
bed and the banks of the river, this is the most effective type of erosion
o attrition: as material corrode the banks of the rivers it gets more and more smooth
and small, reducing the effects of corrosion.
o Solution (corrosion): some rocks dissolve in water (i.e. limestone)

 Transport: rivers transport what has eroded in different ways:

o solution load: minerals dissolved are carried by water, this requires the least energy

o suspension load: very light are carried by the rivers giving their colours (e.g. Blue
Nile).
o Saltation load: small pebbles and loads are brought in the river bouncing on the
riverbed.
o Traction load: heavy rocks are rolled by the water on the riverbed , this requires the
most energy.

 Deposition: a river deposits the rocks that is transporting while it decreases its power (due
to reduction of the river's gradient). Heavier rocks first and then lighter ones although
lightest materials are brought to the sea. Some of this materials are very fertile. Thanks to
deposition rivers can, throughout many years, form valleys called flood plains.

 Erosion of river valleys: while it flows the river erodes the bed in order to reach sea level.
This sometimes happened unevenly, resulting in waterfalls or rapids, and sometimes
evenly.
While it flows the river erodes also its banks thanks to lateral erosion
RIVER LANDFORMS 1

 The shape of a river valley depends on: the rate of lateral and vertical erosion, the geology
and the climate of the valley and the time.
 The Colorado valley is a river valley in USA 10 miles wide, 1 mile deep and 180 miles long.
It's deep and has sharp edges. This form is caused by high vertical erosion, low lateral
erosion, lack of rainfall and the presence of different types of rocks with different hardness
that generate irregular and sharp edges. Moreover the plateau is flat and regular, due to
the lack of tributaries.

 In the upper part of a river there is high vertical erosion. When the river meets a resistant
rock, it will create a waterfall. If there is a layer of hard rock than the river will erode the
softer rock down first, than the harder rock will break under its weight. This process will
result in the retreat of the waterfall and with the creation of a gorge and of a plunge pool.
Instead, if the hard rock has a vertical angle, than the waterfall won't retreat.
RIVER LANDFORMS 2

 oxbow lakes: As it flows downwards the river slows down because also the valley gets more
gentle. As consequence the main erosion is lateral erosion. This let the river flow in bends
instead of straight. This will generate meanders. Over time the banks of the river will be
worn by the water and the neck will get narrower. At the end the river will burst in a
straight line cutting off the meander and creating an oxbow lake of stagnant water.

 Levees and flood plans: As a river continuously floods deposition occurs on the flood plain
and moreover on the banks. Indeed the water will flow slower on the banks, depositing the
heaviest materials and increasing banks' or levees' height. Deposition occurs also on the
bed of the river. This two types of deposition will lead to the creation of a flood plain and to
the uplift of all the river. If the river is in an higher position when it will overflow the banks
it will have large impacts

 deltas: the river slows down while reaching the sea and deposits the heaviest materials.
After years of depositions it will form an island. The river will flood more frequently and will
need to divide into distributaries in order to reach the sea. This process will repeat creating
deltas.
RIVERS: HAZARDS AND OPPORTUNITIES

 Rivers can cause floods. These can have many consequences such as the loss of housing,
loss of transport links, lower prices for houses and higher prices for insurance, stress,
injuries and deaths. If the river has high banks the consequences of the flood will be much
worse.

 Rivers, such as Nile, have many opportunities:

o water for industrial (like sugar cane industries) and domestic use

o for irrigation (most of Egyptians' food supplies come from lands near Nile)

o transport (Nile has always been used to trade goods)

o generating electricity (the high Aswan Dam, built in 1970, generates most of Egypt's
electricity)
o for tourism (many local people gain jobs from cruise ships).
 Rivers are also give: flat lands for buildings, fertile soils and land where to build roads and
links
MANAGING RIVER FLOODING

 Flooding can cause damage so it's necessary to being able to predict when they will
happen. To help studying flood hydrologists use hydrographs. These shows the discharge
with respect to the time. (fig A p 88)

 to prevent floods many techniques can be used:

o dams: can control flooding but have effects on the environment

o barriers and flood walls: can control flooding but are expensive and might seem
unsightly.
o Embankments or levees: can control flooding but might ruin the landscapes and, if
the river bursts it will cause large-scale damages
o dredging and straightening: allows water to run faster but may cause more severe
floods in other areas
o canals and waterways: move water away but take many space

o afforestation: planting trees upstream intercepts some of the water and let it flow
more slowly
o balancing lakes and washlands: water is allowed to overflow in some areas low
valued instead of in other areas
o reducing buildings near rivers.

THE ELBE RIVER

 The Elbe river is one of the most important waterways in Europe, more than 24 million
people live within its drainage basin because of the opportunities offered. In 2013 some
parts of Europe experienced 2 months of rainfall in 2 days between 30 th May and 2nd June.
Many troops were used to help the people and to build some flood defences, many people
were asked to evacuate and many factories were closed. Although the attempts of the
governments 25 deaths occurred. Now the flood defences, such as dams, dykes, levees,
metal barriers..., of all the major cities are being upgraded.
THE WORK OF THE SEA

 Coasts are always changing. Erosion and deposition occur constantly.

 Erosion is carried out by:

o hydraulic action: waves break on cliffs and can also trap some gasses causing cliffs to
break
o corrasion (abrasion) particles carried by waves crash on the cliffs, eroding them.
 o Attrition: particles carried by the waves crash against each other becoming
smoother
o solution (corrosion): acids in water dissolve some rocks in the cliffs and the
chemicals are then brought thanks to solution.

 There are two types of waves: destructive (carry out erosion, create a narrow and steep
beach) and constructive (carry out deposition, create a gentle beach) waves

 coastal erosion can occur at different rates. This depends by many factors such as:
o the type of rock that forms the cliffs

o the strength of the waves and on the wind speed

o the shape of coastline

o how sheltered or exposed the cost is

COSTAL LANDFORMS CREATED BY EROSION

 Soft rock is eroded creating a bay and headlands. Cliffs are formed and on the headlands
there may be a line of weakness. This will be eroded and the part over the notch may:
o collapse forming a wave-cut platform

o withstand creating a cave then, an arch and then when the arch roof collapses and
creates a stack and at the end, due to erosion, a stump

 The twelve Apostles are a famous coastal landforms in Victoria, Australia. Originally the
rock layers formed as sediments on the bed of the sea. They were formed as the result of
different rate of erosion. Waves worn faster the softest rock, letting the hardest rock form
headlands, then, due to some notches, some caves were formed and after sometime the
roofs of the arches collapsed letting only the 12 stacks.
COASTAL LANDFORMS CREATED BY DEPOSITION

 Coastal landforms are formed as consequence of longshore drift. Waves usually arrive on
the beach not at a right angle so the wash carries the pebbles alongside. When the wave
reaches its top it loses alongside force and the pebbles come back in the sea at a right
angle. This over time results as a movement of the pebbles along the beach. This process is
known as longshore drift.

 If there is a change in the direction of the coastline this process might result in on of these
features:
o Sand spit: a long, narrow stretch of sand with one an d attached to the mainland

o Sand bar: develops when a spit links two mainlands. Behind it an area of salt water
called lagoon.
o Tombolo: forms when a sand spit meets an island

o Barrier island: island parallel to the mainland, it can create a tidal lagoon
 o Saltmarsh: a sheltered area, it may be found behind a sand spit or bar

 the Hel Peninsula is a sand spit in Poland, it's long narrow and relatively flat. It's the result
of the movement of the waves that have a direction from west/north-west due to the
winds. The waves have slowly brought the pebbles, forming the spit.
CORAL REEFS AND MANGROVE SWAMPS

 Coral polyps are animals that build up calcium skeletons as shelter. A coral reef is a
community of living organisms, included coral polyps, usually found between 30 degrees
north and south. They live in the Indian ocean, Red Sea, Pacific Ocean and Caribbean.
Corals need three factors to develop:
o warm water: between 23°-25° C.

o clear, shallow saltwater, no deeper than 50m.

o Plenty of sunlight in order to allow photosynthesis.

 There are three types of coral reefs:

o fringing reef: coral reef grow attached to the mainland, with a shallow lagoon over
them
o Barrier reef: coral grows in a shallow area away from the mainland. The space
between is too deep to let coral live so it creates a deep lagoon. This type of coral
create off-shore barriers
o atoll: first a fringing reefs develops around a island, than the increasing sea level
forces the corals to grow upwards. This will eventually form a circular coral reef with
a deep lagoon in the middle of it.

 Mangrove swamps are made of many mangrove species and other plants. They grow
between 32 and 38 degrees north south, in areas calm, with a great space between low
and high water marks and must live in saltwater. They have adapted to excrete the salt, to
withstand being covered by water twice a day and to take in oxygen during low tides.
Mangrove swamplands are home to many different species of animals and benefit coral
reefs by trapping pollutants and sediments.
HAZARDS AND OPPORTUNITIES

 Coasts offer many opportunities: in many areas the land is gently sloping, making it the
ideal place where to farm, settle buildings and communications. In areas with sheltered and
deep waters ports can be built, industries for manufacturing can be settled, and it can be
used to fish. Sea is also a good place for tourism.

 However coasts have many risks: storms and tsunamis may cause death or injuries and
people have to protect also their homes from coastal erosion. Between tropic of cancer hot
air meets cold air and begin to circulate due to Earth's rotation, creating the eye of the
storm (an area of really low pressure) and tropical storms. Winds at high level first bring
these storms to west and then other high winds bring them in other directions. These
 tropical storms are known as typhoons, hurricanes or cyclones and as they move away from
the equator they loose energy and may die over land.
MANAGING COSTAL EROSION

 Coastal areas are have high value so it's important to protect them from coastal erosion,
longshore drift and flooding. To do that there are both hard engineering techniques:
o sea walls: usually made of cement and curve are built in order to prevent both
erosion and flooding. On the other hand they can cause erosion of the beach at
their base, they are expensive, visually intrusive and cost of maintenance is high.
o Groynes: are barriers made of wood built at right angle to the beach to prevent
longshore drift. On the other hand they are expensive and not attractive.
o Rock armour: consists of large boulders placed at the base of the cliff in order to
absorb most of the power of the waves. On the other hand it can be expensive to
transport and place the boulders.
o Revetments: are wooden or concrete slatted barriers placed at the base of the cliff
to protect them from waves, are quite cheap and not so unattractive. On the other
hand are not so suitable when the waves have high power.
o Gabions: metal cages with enclose rocks to absorb energy from waves and they are
not so expensive. On the other hand they are unattractive and have a short lifespan.
o Offshore breakwaters: are large concrete rocks placed offshore to reduce waves'
power and longshore drift. On the other hand they can be unattractive and
expensive.
And soft engineering techniques:
o beach nourishment: consists on placing materials removed from waves or longshore
drift such as sand or pebbles, it is cheap and preserve natural appearance of the
beach. On the other hand increases the erosion in other areas, changing natural
environment.
o Managed retreat: is when low value areas are allowed to erode and flood. On the
other hand farmers loose their land.

 Hawaii is a state of USA situated in the centre of the Pacific Ocean. It's made of many
islands which are in danger due to the coastal erosion, tsunamis, hurricanes, sea level rise
and flooding. Some preventive plans are being taken by locals. Some Hawaiians lost their
homes due to coastal erosion and so they want to build some shelters but they can't
because scientists think that if they build seawalls they will increase the erosion rate in
other place such as an important river for important surf competitions.

MAURITIUS: AN AREA OF COASTLINE

  Mauritius is an island in the Indian ocean famous for beautiful lagoons and beaches. There
tourism has largely developed between 1970 and 2013 thanks to: large increase in sugar
exports earnings, more tourism, the establishment of industries and financial services.

 Now many beaches of Mauritius experience coastal erosion and flooding. Coastal erosion
has increased in the last 15 years, many sea walls collapsed and may roads were destroyed,
especially after storms
STUDYING THE WEATHER

 Weather are al those short-term day-to-day changes in the atmosphere in a place (i.e.
rainfall, wind direction and strength, temperatures, air pressure, sunshine and humidity).
Climate are the average weather conditions in a place over a period of time longer than 30
years. Climate regions cover large areas

 the Stevenson screen it's a wooden box designed to protect weather measuring
instruments such as max/min thermometers and a hygrometer. It has particular features:
o it has a roof which protects the instruments from direct heat of the Sun. The ai
space in the screen is a bed conductor of heat, too.
o It is made of wood slats to allow air circulate freely

o it's painted of white to reflect sunlight

o it stands on legs to avoid any heating from the ground

o it has a door for access

o can have different dimension

and must be placed in particular places

o it should be sited away from trees or buildings in order to let air pass

o it should be sited on level ground

o it should be sited on grass or bare earth, and not on concrete which can trap and re
radiate heat.
o It should be surrounded by a secure fence to protect from animals and humans.

o The door should face away from the sun to not allow direct heat influence the
instruments during the readings.
o It should be sited away from artificial sources of heat

MEASURING OTHER WEATHER ELEMENTS

 Other weather elements can be measured such as:

o precipitation with a rain gauge

o wind direction with a wind vane

 o wind force with a cup anemometer

o amount of sunshine with a sunshine recorder

o cloud type (cirrus, cirrocumulus, cirrostratus, altocumulus, altostratus,

stratocumulus, stratus, cumulus, nimbostratus, cumulonimbus p109 source C) and
cover (how many eights are covered) by observation.
o pressure

REFINING AND PRESENTING WEATHER DATA

 after collecting data these must be refined, by carrying out calculations of useful statistics,
and presented so that patterns can be seen. To show refined data there are different
graphs:
o map showing average annual temperatures in a given area. In this map a line joins
all the points with the same specific average temperature, known as isotherm
o map showing average rainfall in a given area. In this map a line joins all the points
with the same specific average rainfall, known as isohyet
o map showing average pressure in a given area. In this map a line joins all the points
with the same specific average pressure, known as isobar

 relative humidity is calculated using a chart and the data of a min/max thermometer

 wind direction is presented thanks to wind rose in which a mark describes on a particular
day the where wind was coming from or by plotting data on a table.
USING WEATHER AND CLIMATE DATA

 data are recorded over all the country and then are sent to meteorologist who analyse the
informations and produce weather maps to show patterns over a large area. Then
climatologists keep these records to produce data over a long period of time. After years
climatologists create graphs that show patterns of all the world.
THE EQUATORIAL CLIMATE

 Also known as tropical rainy climate is a climate hot and very wet, it is found between the
tropics, usually 10° away from the Equator and it extends to 1000 meters above sea level. It
has some typical characteristics:
o low pressure all year, an area known as the Doldrums.

o Midday Sun almost at right angle, giving maximum insolation.

o Average temperatures around 26°C, lower than other areas thank to heavy rainfalls

o a small daily and annual temperature range

o heavy rainfalls and thunderstorms

o average annual rainfall of over 1500 millimetres, evenly distributed through the year
 o high relative humidity

TROPICAL RAINFOREST ECOSYSTEM

 The biosphere is made up of all those plants and animal components that are either live or
have lived. The interactions between these and non-living things takes place in an
ecosystem. Large ecosystem at global scale are called biomes.

 The tropical rainforest biome has a complex ecosystem and contains 90% of all the known
species thanks to a diverse fauna and flora. Most animals live in the canopy which is the
main layer, the true jungle, because the light can reach it and because is not that high. All
plants need sun to photosynthesise so they fight for light, indeed on the ground layer the
light is trapped by all the upper layer and not much organisms can live there.
RAINFOREST DEFORESTATION
 The deforestation of rainforests is a big problem as these produce most of our oxygen.
Most deforestation began with subsistence farmers' shifting cultivation. Clearings were
made, crops were grown and animals were hunted then the tribes moved to allow
regrowth but little damages were already made. This process is increased in last 50 years
and it is no more sustainable.

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 P 78 WETTED PERIMETER AND CROSS-SECTION AREA DIFFERENCE, P 115 SOURCE B