Factors of Weather

Meteorology, or the science of the atmosphere, first was founded during Aristotle’s time. It was he who created the word “Meteorology” in his treatise entitled Meteorologica. Meteorology is not just the science of the atmosphere; it also includes the studies of physics and geography. When someone says they are studying meteorology, they are specifically referring to the science of the atmosphere and it’s “weather”.

“Weather”, as we know it, is the condition of the air at a particular place and time. Weather occurs in the lowest 12 miles of the atmosphere, also known as the troposphere. The upper troposphere contains high speed winds called the jet stream. Major factors which create weather are heat, pressure, wind and moisture. Another significant factor is the Earth’s geography, as it is comprised of many different average temperatures, humidity levels, and atmospheric conditions.

The Earth is encompassed by a gaseous shell: the atmosphere. Our atmosphere consists of five layers, called the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and the exosphere. The combination of gases in the atmosphere is relatively stable. The first 99% consists of Nitrogen and Oxygen, while the last percent is a mix of more than nine other gases, such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and ozone. All of these gases contain similar characteristics of extreme mobility, compressibility, and capacity for expansion.

The air in the atmosphere always contains water vapor. Water vapor is an invisible gas, but it has a pronounced effect upon the weather. Vapor is contributed to the air by means of evaporation of water surfaces, soil, and living tissues. This is called atmospheric moisture, and it exists in all three stages; solid, liquid, and ...

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... of moist warm air rise up into stratosphere, because the warm rains that are often experienced in summer. Cell Merging clouds occur when two thunderstorms merge together into one, and Cauliflower clouds are sharp, clear, growing thunder heads.

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Blair, Thomas A., and Robert C. Fite. Weather Elements; a Text in Elementary Meteorology. 5th

ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1965. Print.

Douglas, Paul. Restless Skies: the Ultimate Weather Book. New York: Sterling Pub., 2005. Print.

Kahl, Jonathan D.W. National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Weather. New York:

Scholastic, 1998. Print.

Lahr, Paul E., R. Will Burnett, and Herbert Spencer Zim. Weather: Air Masses, Clouds, Rainfall,

Storms, Weather Maps, Climate. New York: Golden, 1991. Print.

Reynolds, Ross. Cambridge Guide to the Weather. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge UP, 2000. Print.