Climate and weather

Abstract This chapter discusses the importance of climate and weather to crop yields and quaUly. It describes how climate is affected by local factors such as altitude and goes on to explain the importance of rainfall and temperature in particular. It discusses the influence of weather and cUmate on diseases and soil factors such as organic matter decomposition. Finally, the chapter discusses climate change, the possible future scenarios and how agriculture may have contributed. 

Key words rainfall, temperature, frost, greenhouse gases, carbon. 

Climate has an important influence on the types of crops which can be grown in the United Kingdom. It may be defined as a seasonal average of weather conditions. Weather is the state of the atmosphere at any one time. It is the combined effect of such conditions as heat or cold, wetness or dryness, wind or calm, clearness or cloudiness, pressure and the electric state of the air. It has a major influence on the type, yield and quality of the crops grown. 

Local variations are caused by altitude, aspect and slope. 

Aspect The direction in which land faces can affect the amount of sunshine absorbed by the soil and thus the soil temperature. In this country the temperature of north-facing slopes may be 1 °C lower than on similar slopes facing south. 

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Finally, there is the seasonal cycle associated with the difference in climate and weather over the four seasons—winter, spring, summer, and fall (Fig. 4-3). The climatic changes affect source strength, and the weather changes affect transport and diffusion. 

Linacre, E., and Geerts, B. (1997). Climate and Weather Explained. London Routledge. 

Many factors influence the corrosion of metals in the atmosphere, including the natural phenomena that make up the vagaries of climate and weather. Of these, the feature of greatest importance is moisture in its various forms, since, other factors apart, the amount of corrosion that takes place is largely a question of whether and how long a period the surface of the metal is wetted ( time of wetness ). 

Phase transitions, although rarely described in these terms represent the second example of chemical change in the local environment. The most familiar example is transformation between the phases of water, which is responsible for all observed climatic and weather changes on the planet. Volcanic activity is another dramatic manifestation of phase transformations. 

General Considerations 1 Location of people relative to the unit 2 Location of critical systems 3 Dominant wind direction 4 Climate and weather extremes earthquake, flooding, windstorms 5 Site topography 6 External hazards or threats (fire/explosion/toxic release from nearby process or facility aircraft subsidence sabotage) 7 Traffic flow patterns and clearances from process vessels and lines 8 Security and reliability of all critical feeds and utilities 9 Command center and alternate command center locations 10 Evacuation routes, emergency exits, safe rally spots... 

Effects of solarization were found related to a combination of many parameters, though most authors agreed that soil temperature and moisture, climate and weather, and type and properties of mulching film are key factors for solarization results (Katan et al. 1987 Stapleton and DeVay 1995). 

A hydrant lock is a physical security device designed to prevent unauthorized access to the water supply through a hydrant. It can also ensure water and water pressure availability to firefighters and prevent water theft and associated lost water revenue. These locks have been successfully used in numerous municipalities and in various climates and weather conditions. 

Herbs harvested for drying need to be collected with as little moisture on them as possible. A dry, warm, but not too sunny day provides ideai conditions. The ideal time is after overnight moisture has dissipated but before strong sunlight has caused the voiatiie oiis to evaporate. In most cases this is around midmorning, depending on the climate and weather conditions. 

The consensus of scientists with expertise in climate and weather issues appears to he that global warming is of sufficient concern to demand some form of political action. They argue that it is more prudent to act now to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and reduce the risk of global warming than to... 

Modem analytical methods can detect some concentration of most elements in soils. The concentration varies as a function of several factors including the age of the soil, its parent material, climate and weathering regimes, vegetation, and human activity. Whether an element is present naturally in soil or water, or has been introduced... 

The climatic and weather conditions during growth are regarded as more important than the nature of the soil with regard to the volatile oil content. Reports indicate that the best oil yields are obtainable in cool, rather wet summers (Purseglove et al., 1981). The combined application of fertilizers N80, S12 and Zn2.5 yielded 1% essential oil content compared with 0.7% without nutrient application (Manure et al., 2000). 

However, one should not get trapped into sweeping generalisations about either organic or conventional farming. There is enormous variation in both, in species and varieties used, level of intensity, scale, soil type, climate and weather, productivity and profitability. This is true within a country but, of course, the variation between countries may be enormous and both research needs and institutions (see Table 12.5 for European examples) will differ greatly. 

Microbial adaptation and change Human susceptibility to infection Climate and weather Changing ecosystems Human demographics and behavior Economic development and land use International travel and commerce Technology and industry Breakdown of public health measures Poverty and social inequality War and famine Lack of political will Intent to harm... 

Frolking and Grill (1994) developed a peat soil climate model driven by daily weather and used correlations of CH4 flux with environmental parameters to investigate how climate and weather control the observed temporal variability... 

The sulfur based marking paints have shown outstanding wear characteristics on asphalt and concrete pavements 54), They performed better than standard paints in all climates and weather when tested in residential communities, rural areas, and in parking lots, as well as on busy highways and in major metropolitan areas. Some of the advantages of sulfur paints are summarized in Table V. Relatively sophisticated application equipment which automatically dispenses reflecting beads was developed and tested in North America and Europe. 

Some of the trends visible in Figure 3 are a relatively slow decrease in Sr/ "Sr ratios from the Cambrian to the Jurassic period, upon which are superimposed a number of relatively large fluctuations. The sharp decline and following rise at the Permian/Triassic boundary are spectacular, and are thought to reflect either an extreme climate and weathering change, or the sudden mixing of a... 

Agricultural production occurs by working or using farm land thus the equipment used to work the fields is exposed to the climate and weather conditions present at that time and place. Rain water or wet products may collect in the corners or ridges of the equipment leading to corrosion. Corrosion may also occur in locations where mud buildup occurs or where waste from vegetables, cattle, or feed can be present. 

Pielke, R.A., Landsea, C.W. (1998), Normalized Hurricane Damages in the United States 1925-95. Climate and Weather, 13, 621-631. 

Sehneider, S. H., ed. (1996). Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather, Oxford Univ. Press, New York. 

Climate and weather are closely related and both are believed to influence debris flow activity. The influence of rainfall has already been discussed and tends to be of immediate concern on the short term time scale over which debris flows occur. Because climate describes average weather over a long period of time it is not always considered as a factor in the analysis of debris flow occurrence. Climatic factors that are likely to influence debris-flow initiation are seasonality of precipitation, storm types, and dominant storm tracks (Wilson, 1997, Wilson, R.C., 1997). Other climatic factors that should also be considered are water budget, record rainfall for any recorded storm, maximum observed precipitation intensity, and average wind direction. 

Here constitutes the mean frequency of the occurrence of damage per person and unit time, provided the person in question is subject to the effective conditions WB r). With regard to this person, we must take the average over a population group which will dwell within the danger area or hazard area. The exposure times to be expected must form part of the consideration. The impressed risk field defined by fl(r) is dependent upon the conditions at the source of danger and upon general condition of the location, e.g., climate and weather, but not upon the actual population distribution there. From the density of population fi(r) we can derive the density of the population risk... 

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