Climate, Weather, and Geography

Sun is a huge sphere of hot gases with a very high temperature. All the changes in weather are caused by sun, which is said to be the primary cause of all the changes in weather. Wind speed, water and temperature are the elements of weather.

Thermometer is a device used to measure the temperature of a body. To measure the atmospheric temperature, maximum and minimum thermometers are used. The maximum temperature generally occurs in the afternoon, while the minimum occurs early morning.

The day to day conditions of atmosphere at a place with respect to temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind speed etc. is called weather. So, soil texture is not an element of weather.

Latitude is a primary determinant of climate because it controls the angle of solar insolation. Longitude, however, does not directly determine climate - two locations at the same latitude but different longitudes generally have similar climates. The other factors listed (land-sea contrasts, relief features) are all significant determinants of climate.

The Doldrums (Intertropical Convergence Zone) shifts with the sun's apparent position. During summer in each hemisphere, the zone moves toward that hemisphere, bringing the Doldrums area into the trade wind circulation. The question likely refers to northern hemisphere summer.

According to Ferrel's law (a corollary of the Coriolis effect), winds in the Northern Hemisphere are deflected to the right of their direction of motion due to Earth's rotation. In the Southern Hemisphere, the deflection is to the left.

This is the correct answer as all the given statements about inversion of temperature are correct.

Equator receives comparatively less insolation than the tropics. This statement is incorrect. Thus, this is the correct answer choice.

This is the correct answer a s statements a and b are correct about isotherms.

This is the correct answer choice. The variation in the solar output does not have great effect on daily weather changes on the surface of the earth. Thus, the distance of earth from the sun has the least affect on the weather changes on the surface of the earth.

This is the correct answer. Surface inversion causes fog during winter mornings. The heat of the day is radiated off during the night, and by early morning hours, the earth is cooler than the air above. Smoke and dust particles get collected beneath the inversion layer and spread horizontally to fill the lower strata of the atmosphere. Air drainage causes surface inversion, which causes fog.

The climate data shows mild, wet winters (9-10°C, 88-104mm rain) and dry, mild summers (17-18°C, 1-5mm rain). This is a classic Mediterranean climate pattern, which San Francisco exhibits. Tokyo has summer rainfall, Melbourne has winter rainfall peaks in different months, and Buenos Aires is in the Southern Hemisphere with reversed seasons.

During winter mornings, the exposed surface cools by radiating its heat. Thus, water vapour present in the atmosphere condenses, resulting in the formation of water droplets on the exposed surfaces. These water droplets are known as dew. Dew is formed very easily on grasses and leaves of plants.

Mist is the formation of water droplets in air from water vapours by the process of condensation, near or in contact with the earth’s surface during the winters. Mist is different from fog only by visibility. Mist does not reduce visibility as much as fog does.