Camping is a very popular form of living outdoors. It gives people the opportunity of spending their free time in nature or in the wilderness. Camping may start by spending the night in a tent in your own back yard and end up by going on a trip that may last for several weeks.

Some campers stay in one place for days, a week or even longer. From there they visit tourist attractions, go fishing or hunting, play games and do active sports like mountain biking or just simply relax. Others prefer to tour areas and spend every night in a different place. They travel by car or motor homes.

Each year millions of people go camping. They can explore new surroundings and be close to nature at the same time.

Image: Creazilla , Open Source

Types of Camping

Most people drive to a campsite and set up a tent there. This is easy because you can take everything you need for your camping holiday in your car with you. In most cases you will choose a campsite that is near the road.

Travelling in recreational vehicles (RV) is more comfortable but also much more expensive. These RVs range from small trailers to large mobile homes. They have all the luxuries that you would also have at home, like refrigerators, showers, sinks or toilets.

Recreational vehicle
Image: KounG on Pixabay

Boat campers travel with a canoe, kayak or even a small houseboat. They spend days on lakes or rivers and usually camp on the water’s edge nearly every night. In Western Europe, especially Holland, Belgium or Ireland you can rent a boat and travel on one of the hundreds of canals and smaller rivers that crisscross these countries.

Houseboat in Amsterdam
Image: Heribert Bechen, 5 million visits – many thanks!, CC BY 2.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Backpackers are hikers who carry their belongings on their backs. They usually go to places that you cannot reach by car. Special equipment is usually extremely light and can be carried on longer trips.

Campers who travel by bike usually can stay at normal campsites. On one side cyclists can get to places that you can’t get to by car and on the other side they travel longer distances than hikers do. They pack their things in waterproof saddlebags which they strap to the frame of the bike.

Bike set up for a camping holiday
Image: Htcltd, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Organized camping holidays usually take place during the summer and are attended by girls and boys. They combine outdoor activities with other kinds of training or with learning. Boy and girl scouts are groups of children who go on special camping trips.

Camping Equipment

If you go camping and want to spend the night in a tent you will need certain items.

Today’s tents are normally made of nylon, canvas or other light material. They are not so expensive and easy to fold together and carry around with you, especially if you are backpacking. The material has to be waterproof and is easy to put up

If you want to sleep in a tent you will need a sleeping bag. It protects you from the outside cold and is warmer than a blanket. Sleeping bags come in different sizes, colours and shapes.

Sleeping on the ground however is not always very comfortable. Some campers have foam pads or air mattresses which they lie on.

Clothing is an important aspect when you go on a camping holiday. Be sure to take clothes with you that will protect you from the sun, rain and insects. Take along some lightweight trousers, comfortable shoes and warm shirts or a jacket for cold evenings. Always carry a raincoat or poncho with you. Hiking boots are good if you walk a lot.

You will also need other everyday items such as a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap. Take along sunglasses, maps, and a compass or maybe even a GPS device.

Campers should also have waterproof matches, extra batteries, a knife and a lantern or torch with them.

Lightweight tent
Image: JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Sleeping bag
Image:Smack, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons

Campsite

Choosing the right place to set up a tent is not always an easy task. First choose a dry place. The open side of the tent should face away from windy and stormy directions. Remove stones and sticks from the ground. Sometimes it is necessary to dig a ditch around the tent so that water from rainfall can flow away.

If you camp in your RV make sure you have the necessary facilities you need. Many campgrounds supply you with energy and water connections. Sometimes, however, campsites require you to reserve a place in advance.

Organized campgrounds are areas that are mostly enclosed by a fence. They often provide picnic tables, grills and parking space for cars and offer extra activities for their guests.

Campsite in Japan
Image:663highland, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Camping Safety

There are some safety precautions you must take when camping outdoors.

A campfire is one of the many enjoyable parts of a camping experience, but you should do it right. Never leave your fire unattended . Always have water nearby so that you can put out the fire if it gets out of control.

Safe drinking water is also something important. Public campgrounds usually provide good water but if you camp in the wilderness make sure you have fresh and clean water supplies with you. You can also buy tablets that purify water.

If you go hiking on your camping trip be aware of other dangers. Don’t touch poisonous plants like poison oak or poison ivy. If you get caught in a thunderstorm look for shelter. If you can’t find a house or another building sit under trees in a forest. Avoid tall trees that stand alone in open areas. Get out of the water if you are swimming.

Before you leave home tell someone where you are going and when you will probably be back. If you have never been to a place before don’t go there alone. Stay calm and remain in one place in case you get lost and wait until help arrives. Carry matches with you to light a fire and keep warm. Do not rely on cell phones to call someone. Chances are that you won’t have a good reception if you are in a remote area.

Clean up your campsite when you leave. Fill all the holes that you have dug. Save your waste until you can put it in waste bins.

Rules at a campsite
Image: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Exercises

Jigsaw Puzzle

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Tropical rainforests are woodlands around the equator with a lot of vegetation that is evergreen. It is very warm and rain falls throughout the year.

Although only 7 % of the land surface are covered with rainforests, more than half of the world’s plants and animal species live there.

Rainforests are very important for human beings. Plants produce food and medicine, and we get industrial products out of some of them. Trees produce timber, help control the earth’s climate and supply us with fresh air.

Despite these advantages, people cut down thousands of square kilometres of rainforest every year.

Half of the world’s rainforests can be found in the Amazon River basin in South America. Smaller rainforests lie in Central America and southern Mexico. The western part of Africa has about 2 million square kilometres of rainforest in and around the Congo River basin. Rainforests in Asia are found in southern India, Malaysia and on many Indonesian islands.

The world’s tropical rainforests

Climate

Temperatures stay the same the whole year round—about 20 to 30 degrees Celsius.

Around the equator there are two rainy seasons with heavy rainfall — up to 10 metres. When you move away from the equator, it gets a bit drier in some months , but there are still more than 2 metres of rain a year.

The weather hardly changes from one day to the next. In the morning it is clear . The sun starts heating up the ground and warm, humid air starts to rise. In the afternoon, clouds get darker and there are thunderstorms for an hour or two before it starts to clear up again .

Most of the rain stays in the rainforest . It evaporates , creates clouds and comes down again.

Rainforest soils are not very fertile because the rain washes out most of the nutrients.

Structure of the Rainforest

Rainforests have four layers.

• The top layer is the canopy. It consists of the tallest trees of the rainforest. They may get over 50 metres tall. But only very few reach this height. This is the part that gets most of the sunlight.
• The subcanopy is a layer of trees that is below the canopy. More than 70 % of rainforest animals and plant species live in the canopy and subcanopy. Lianas often climb around trees.
• The understory is the shadowy lower area. It has young trees and plants like ferns or palms that do not need much light. Only 1 or 2 per cent of the sunlight reaches the understory.
• The floor has a thin layer of leaves, seeds or fruits and branches that fall from the trees. It decomposes fast, and new material takes its place.

When large , tall trees die and fall to the ground, they leave a gap in the rainforest. Very quickly, smaller trees take this place and their crowns grow larger. That’s why the layers of the rain forest always change.

Rainforest canopy on the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean
Image :  © Vyacheslav Argenberg / http://www.vascoplanet.com/, CC BY 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Plants of the Rainforest

About half of the world’s plant species can be found in the rainforest. Because it is warm and rains the whole year, forests stay green. Trees lose their leaves and immediately grow new ones. The rain forest is the home of many plants : lianas, ferns, orchids and many kinds of tropical trees.

Palm tree

Palm trees grow in the hot and wet climate of the tropics. They give us food, drink and sometimes building material. Most palm trees are found in Southeast Asia, South America and on islands in the Pacific.

There are over 2,000 kinds of palms. They grow straight and tall and most of them carry fruits, like the coconut.

Rubber tree

Rubber is one of our most important raw materials. Natural rubber comes from the juice of the rubber tree. It grows best in hot climates. The tree can be about 20 metres tall. It has smooth, shiny leaves. A white, milky fluid comes out of the bark if you cut into it. This is called latex.

Today, most rubber comes from plantations in Southeast Asia.

Orchid

Wild orchids grow in places with a lot of rainfall. Most species grow on trunks or branches of trees. In cooler regions, orchids are grown in greenhouses. Most of them grow in a mixture of fascinating colours.

Ferns at Melbourne Botanical Gardens
Image : fir0002 flagstaffotos [at] gmail.com Canon 20D + Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, GFDL 1.2,
via Wikimedia Commons

White orchid
Image : Niall Kearney, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Latex collected from a rubber tree
Image:  Irvin calicut, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons

Animals of the Rainforest

Fish, reptiles, birds and insects also live in the rainforest and its rivers. Plants and animals need each other to survive. Insects pollinate the flowers of the rainforest. Animals get food from the flowers’ nectar. Seeds from trees are often taken away by other animals and birds and dropped in faraway areas.

Piranha

The piranha is a fish with sharp teeth that lives in the lakes and rivers of the Amazon . It attacks and eats other fish and water animals. In some cases, it even attacks humans. Piranhas have flat bodies and can grow up to 30 cm long.

Red piranha
Image: Cliff, CC BY 2.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Toucan

Toucans are typical birds of the tropical rainforests. They have big and long bills that are brightly coloured , so that they can attract other birds. The largest toucans can get up to 65 cm long. Most of them live in hollow trees.

Toucan
Image : Basa Roland, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Gorilla

Gorillas are the largest members of the ape family. They have huge shoulders, long arms and short legs. They may weigh up to 200 kg.

Gorillas live in Africa near the equator. Although most of them live in the lowlands, there are some highland types.

People have hunted gorillas for a long time . As a result, they have become very rare and only about 1,000 gorillas live in the wild today.

Gorilla at Detroit Zoo
Image : RedGazelle15, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Value of the Rainforest

People benefit from the rainforest in many ways :

• Economic value – Wood is the most important product of the rainforest. About 80 % of it is used for energy and 20 % is sold to make furniture. The forests produce other valuable goods like fruits, nuts, different kinds of oils and rubber.
• Scientific value – Scientists study the rainforest as an ecosystem. They learn a lot about how plants and animals live together. Tropical plants are used to cure diseases like malaria.
• Environmental value – Rainforests help to regulate our environment. Trees control the water that reaches the ground. They also take up a lot of rain. Much of this water evaporates and gets into the atmosphere again as vapour. Then it turns into rain and comes down to earth. Without rainforests, floods and droughts would be very extreme. Rainforests also help our atmosphere from becoming too warm.

Fog produces water vapour, which returns into the atmosphere
Image: Vyacheslav Argenberg (http://www.vascoplanet.com/), CC BY 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

People of the Rainforest

Most of the world’s rainforests are populated by indigenous people. These are people who have been living there for thousands of years . They depend on the rainforests for survival. Some people live in places that you can get to only by boat.

Many people collect fruits, nuts and firewood. They hunt and fish for food to stay alive. They burn down small areas of rainforest and grow crops there. When the soil gets too bad , they go to other places and plant new crops. This method of farming is called shifting cultivation.

Today, the living areas of these indigenous tribes are in danger, because other people have come here to chop down trees, raise cattle or mine gold and silver.

Woman collecting firewood in the rainforest
Image: Micleone88, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Deforestation

People are destroying the world’s rainforests at a very fast rate. One of the reasons is deforestation. More and more trees are cut down every year because

• the world’s population needs more and more wood
• people in the tropical rainforest need energy. They can’t buy oil or gas because it’s too expensive.
• governments find valuable raw materials in these areas — like iron ore, gold or silver.
• dams are built along tropical rivers.
• big companies get land to grow meat and produce food.

Deforestation in the tropical rainforest
Image : Dikshajhingan / CC BY-SA 4.0

Videos

Exercises

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Writing Tasks

As a junior citizen, you are very worried about the destruction of the world’s rainforests. Write an email to your local representative and tell him your view of this problem.

In your email you should

• ask if your government is doing anything to cope with the problem
• make suggestions on how rainforests can be saved
• suggest ways of helping people who live in the rainforests

Write about 200 words.

Deforestation in Borneo
IndoMet in the Heart of Borneo, CC BY 2.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

You are a member of an expedition team travelling through the Amazon rainforest. You have decided to keep a diary and write down what you have seen in the two weeks you have travelled. Write at least 2 diary entries.

In your entries, you should write about

• the plants and animals you have seen
• the weather you have experienced
• the native people you have met and how they live

Tsunamis are created by earthquakes on the ocean floor. The earth’s crust is made up of many plates that always move. Where such plates meet, one of them may move on top of the other. When a plate moves upward it pushes the water above normal sea level. That is when a tsunami is born.

The energy of the earthquake creates waves that spread into all directions very quickly. In the open ocean tsunamis can reach a speed of up to 900 kilometres an hour. When a tsunami approaches the coastline it slows down to maybe 50 km an hour. The water has nowhere to go so it piles up—in some cases it gets taller than a ten-story building. It crashes onto the coast and destroys houses, beaches, roads without difficulty.

When the wave enters shallow water, it slows down and becomes taller
Image: Régis Lachaume , CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tsunamis cause most damage when an underwater earthquake occurs near a coastal region. The waves can reach the coast within minutes and the population there cannot be warned in time. There is almost no way of escaping. If quakes happen very far from land it may take the killer waves a few hours to reach the coast. People can be warned and get to a safe place .

On the beach people who witness a tsunami approaching will see a great rise and fall of water. Sometimes the water near the beach will completely disappear and a few minutes later the first of the great waves can reach the shore. In some cases tsunamis don’t arrive as one big wave but as a strong flood.

People, especially tourists, often make mistakes when they see a tsunami approaching. Curious crowds stay at the beach and watch the giant waves come in. When they realize how tall these waves are, it may be too late to run. The best thing to do is to try to run as far inland as possible and try to reach high ground.

Many regions around the Pacific Ocean have warning centres and special plans on how to evacuate people when a tsunami comes close. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre is located on the Hawaiian islands. It detects the rise of ocean water and underwater earthquakes and reports information to many other stations in other countries. Local governments must then decide what to do.

On December 26, 2004 the world’s most powerful earthquake in 40 years occurred off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The tsunami that it set into motion hit the coastal areas very quickly—during the middle of the Christmas season. Thousands of Europeans were on the beaches of Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other islands when the tsunami hit. It is thought that about 280,000 people died . Many coastal villages were wiped out completely

Location of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
Image: Uwe Dedering, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Village near the coast of Sumatra lies in ruins after 2004 tsunami
Image: U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Philip A. McDaniel,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Video

Exercises

Some animals and plants in our world are very common, like houseflies, cats or daisies. They are not in danger of dying out. Other species are very rare. Sometimes only a few of them are left. Such species may disappear forever.

Ever since life on earth began, animals and plants have died out and new ones have appeared. Dinosaurs, for example, roamed the planet during the earth’s middle ages. 65 million years ago, they disappeared forever.

Animals and plants need each other to survive. They keep the world of nature in balance. If a certain plant dies out, some animals may become extinct too, because they depend on the plant for food.

Image:  Clker-Free-Vector-Images
via Pixabay

Why Species Become Extinct

Long ago, most animals and plants became extinct because of natural events, like earthquakes or volcano eruptions. Climatic changes, like the beginning of the Ice Age, also led to the disappearance of certain species. Today, plants and animals are in danger mostly because of human beings

Some plants and animals can survive in many areas. When they move to other places, they adapt to their new environment very quickly. Others can only live in certain areas. We call such a living place a habitat. If a habitat is destroyed, the species cannot find any more food or a place to live, sleep or have babies. So it dies out.

Habitats can be destroyed in many ways. More and more people live in our world. They need more space to live in. Rainforests, grasslands and other parts of nature are cleared and people start to settle there. They take away the natural home of plants and animals.

Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest
Image: Daniele Gidsicki, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pollution can also kill off certain species. Acid rain from factories goes down in rivers and lakes and can poison fish there.

The most endangered areas are the tropical rainforests. More than 50 % of all animals and plants live there. Every day, thousands of acres of rainforest are destroyed and many species become extinct every day.

Ever since man appeared on earth he has killed animals and gathered plants. They have been used for food, medicine, clothes and to make homes. Cheetahs, tigers and other wild cats have been killed for their skins. Whales have been hunted for centuries because of their oil and blubber.

Most animals today are protected by international law, but many, like the black rhinoceros and the African elephant are hunted illegally. Some species, like wolves, have been killed by humans because they were seen as a danger to farm animals.

The African elephant is in danger of becoming extinct
Image:  Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Sometimes native animals become endangered when a new species comes to live in a place. Foxes were brought to Australia to kill off rabbits, which were seen as a pest. But instead of killing rabbits, the foxes killed kangaroos and other marsupials of Australia.

Parasites belong to the greatest threats to plants and animals. Tiny organisms, bacteria and fungi can destroy trees, kill birds and fish.

How Can Endangered Species Be Protected

People have hurt plants and animals, but they are also willing to help them survive. All over the world organizations like the World Wildlife Fund, the Rainforest Action Network or Friends of the Earth are helping to protect habitats. They raise money for their projects and make governments and the public listen to them. New laws have also been made to protect endangered plants and animals all over the world.

Endangered Animals

The African elephant
Image: Andreas from Pixabay

African and Indian elephants are killed for their tusks, which are used for ivory earrings and other art objects

The giant panda
Image:  Dim Hou from Pixabay

The giant panda lives in zoos and in some parts of China. There are only about 1,500 left in the world today

Alligator in Louisiana
Image:  RENE RAUSCHENBERGER from Pixabay

Reptiles (lizards, crocodiles and alligators) are killed for their skins. People make leather handbags and shoes.

Sea Turtle
Image: Brocken Inaglory, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Sea turtles are in danger because people often collect their eggs. They often die in the sea because of water pollution.

Siberian Tiger
Image: Appaloosa, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

There are only about five thousand tigers left in the world today. They live in southern Asia, mostly in national reserves.

Bald Eagle
Image:  Brigitte Werner from Pixabay

The bald eagle is the national symbol of the USA. The bird almost died out at the beginning of the century, but today the population is stable.

Endangered Plants

Some cactus types are in danger of becoming extinct because they grow slowly and are hurt by animals.

One out of three cacti are in danger of becoming extinct
Image by David Mark from Pixabay

The World Wildlife Fund

In 1960, biologist Sir Julian Huxley returned from a research trip to Africa. He was very much shocked by what he had seen there: the hunting of rare animals and the destruction of their habitat. Other scientists shared his opinion that something had to be done about this. The following year, Huxley, some fellow scientists and a few politicians founded the World Wildlife Fund. It became the largest conservation group in the world.

Today, the WWF has 5 million supporters around the world. It has national organisations in more than 50 countries and raises more than 100 million dollars a year.

The most important task of the WWF is to protect endangered species around the world. Among them are the tiger, whale, elephant and many others. The giant panda, one of the most endangered animals, has become the WWF logo.

The WWF also tries to protect habitats like the tropical rainforest. In the past decade alone, it has been able to conserve over 1 billion acres of forest in Asia, South America and Africa.

The organisation fights against the pollution of natural resources, and it is worried about the destruction of fish in the world’s oceans.

Over the past years, the WWF has been working on projects in over one hundred countries. It also gives money to research work and spends a lot to teach children and parents about our world in danger.

The giant panda has become the symbol of the World Wildlife Fund
Image: J. Patrick Fischer

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Ozone is a blue gas that is explosive and poisonous .It is denser than oxygen and condenses into a dark blue liquid at – 112° C. This liquid freezes at – 251° C.

Ozone is used in many industries. Factories use it for chemical reactions because it reacts more easily than oxygen does. Ozone also kills germs , which makes it useful for removing bad smells and sterilizing drinking water. Ozone is also used to bleach color out of other substances .

Ozone occurs in our atmosphere in two forms. Near the ground even small amounts of ozone can cause health problems. It irritates your eyes and can lead to coughing and asthma . Ozone is especially dangerous on clear days when exhaust fumes or cars pollute the air. Older people and babies are often told to stay indoors because ozone may weaken your immune system .

About 30 -50 km above the Earth’s surface there is a layer of ozone in the atmosphere that protects us. It absorbs harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. If too much of this radiation reaches the Earth it may injure your eyes and lead to skin cancer and other diseases .

In the 1970s scientists found out that chemicals released into the atmosphere have been destroying this ozone layer . The first hole in the ozone layer was found over Antarctica. In the last 20 years this hole has been getting bigger and now lies over some parts of Australia, New Zealand and the northern hemisphere as well.

The hole in the ozone layer is caused by CFCs , chemicals often used in spray cans and refrigerators . They escape into the atmosphere and break up the ozone molecules.

Exercises

Before you watch the video make sure you understand these words. After watching, do the exercise below.

• barrier = something that protects you from danger
• expose = to put in a dangerous situation
• trace gas = there is very little of it
• primary culprits = the ones to blame
• aerosol = spray
• rip apart = break away
• misleading = not quite correct
• conversion = to change from one form to another
• emit = to send into the atmosphere
• hemisphere = half of the Earth
• ban = forbid
• ozone-depleting = material that destroys ozone
• shrink = become smaller

Weather is the state of the atmosphere in a certain place at a certain time. Weather always changes and is different all around the world. It depends on many elements. It may be warm and sunny in one place but cold, windy and rainy somewhere else.

Climate refers to the weather conditions in a certain area over a longer period of time.

Weather is important to everyone. It affects our daily lives in many ways. What we wear depends on the weather. Weather affects the way plants and crops grow. Extreme weather may lead to dangerous situations. Hurricanes and storms may even kill people and destroy houses and roads.

Our weather is made in the troposphere – the lower layer of the atmosphere. Our atmosphere consists of 78% nitrogen and about 21 % oxygen. Water vapour in the atmosphere produces clouds, rain, snow and fog.

Main Elements of the Weather

Temperature

Temperature is one of the most important elements in our weather. How warm or cold it is depends on many factors.

The temperature of the air is higher when sun rays hit the earth. Temperatures also vary from season to season. During the summer the earth’s axis is tilted towards the sun, so the rays of the sun hit us more directly. The days are longer and we get more sunlight.

Temperatures also depend on altitude. It gets colder when you are higher up in the mountains and it’s warmer near sea level. The temperature decreases about 0.7°C per 100 metres.

Places near the sea usually have more moderate climates than areas far away from the coast. There the summers are very hot and winters very cold.

In the summer, the northern half of the earth is tilted towards the sun – leading to higher temperatures
Image: Image by Przemyslaw “Blueshade” Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Air Pressure

Air pressure is the weight of the air. Cold air is heavier and sinks to the ground while warm air rises. When air moves it produces wind. Air moves from high pressure areas to places where the air is not so dense.

Air moves from high to low pressure areas

Humidity

Humidity is the amount of moisture that is in the air. Warm air expands and can hold more moisture than cold air.

When the air can hold no more moisture it forms small droplets called clouds.

Meteorologists often measure the relative humidity in the air. That is the amount of water in the air compared to how much water the air at that temperature can really hold. Relative humidity can reach nearly 100%. The air is completely saturated with water.

Precipitation

Precipitation is what comes down to earth from the clouds in the atmosphere. The most common forms are rain and snow. Other forms include hail, sleet, drizzle.

The amount of precipitation that a place gets is different and depends on many factors. Areas near the coast get more rain than places in inner regions. Sometimes high mountains stop wet air from getting to other places.

Climate Zones

Every place on Earth has a different climate, but there are four main climate zones that extend from the equator to the poles.

Tropical Climate

Tropical climates are found around the equator. Temperatures are high the whole year and there is little difference between the hottest and coldest month. The air is very humid and rainfall is at least 200 cm a year.

Near the equator it rains almost every day in the afternoon. Humid air rises and forms clouds that lead to thunderstorms . There are usually two rainy seasons a year, with drier periods in between. The world’s largest rainforests are in this climate zone – the Amazon and Congo River basin.

As you move farther away from the equator rainfall becomes less and the dry season becomes longer. Rainforests turn into savannahs .

Dry Climate

Dry climates are located between about 20° and 40° north and south of the equator. Because of high pressure areas the skies are clear and often cloudless . Deserts stretch across large parts of Africa, Arabia and Australia. In some areas it hasn’t rained in years.

Temperate Climate

Large parts of Europe, North America and Asia have seasons with warm summers and cold winters. Rain falls throughout the year, especially in coastal regions. Farther away from the sea the climate becomes continental with extreme summer and winter temperatures and little rainfall.

The Mediterranean climate is a special temperate zone found in southern Europe, northern Africa, California , South Africa and southern Australia. Summers are typically hot and dry while winters are cool and rainy.

Polar Climate

The polar region begins north and south of about 60° . In the tundras of North America, Europe and Asia winters are extremely cold and long. A short summer lets few plants grow in this treeless land.

The Arctic and Antarctic regions are covered with snow and ice.

Climate Zones
Image (modified): Skimel, CC0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Wind Systems

Because the earth rotates around its axis air does not move directly from high to low pressure areas. The Coriolis effect makes winds shift . There are three big global wind systems:

• Trade winds blow near the equator between 30° north and 30° south latitude. The trade winds north of the equator blow from the northeast, those south of the equator from the southeast. When they meet at the equator they rise. Rising air leads to the formation of clouds and therefore it starts to rain. A system of clouds and rainy weather is always around the equator but it moves its position depending on the position of the sun.
• Westerlies blow in the middle latitudes between 30° and 60 ° north and south of the equator. These winds are especially strong in higher regions. This area of western winds is also called the jet stream. Airplanes traveling from west to east benefit from strong tailwinds. They need much less fuel and can travel faster.
• Polar winds are easterly winds that blow in the Arctic and Antarctic region. Fronts develop where polar winds and westerlies meet. Storms and cyclones arise around this area where warm and cold air meets.

Trade winds blow from the northeast and southeast towards the equator.
Image (modified) : Martin23230, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Cyclone forming near Iceland
Source : https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/images/68992/low-off-iceland

Air Masses

Air can be cold or warm, wet or dry. When different kinds of air masses meet a front forms. When a warm front approaches , air starts to rise and forms clouds . Light rain usually comes with a warm front.

About a day later a cold front follows. Cold fronts move faster than warm fronts and often catch up with them. The cold air moves under the warm front and pushes the warm air up. Clouds and rainfall are the result. Sometimes such a front can even cause short showers and thunderstorms.

Weather Forecasting

Scientists who study what goes on in our atmosphere are called meteorologists. They can tell us what the weather will be like in the next few days. They gather information from all sorts of instruments.

Today, weather satellites collect data from around the world. This data is entered into computers which produce weather patterns for the future.

Ten thousand weather stations on all continents observe the weather worldwide. They use many kinds of instruments to measure the condition of the atmosphere. The thermometer, for example, measures the air temperature, a barometer measures the weight of the air and a hygrometer shows how much moisture is in the atmosphere.

Weather stations use weather radar to monitor areas of rain or snow, track storms or follow the paths of hurricanes.

Weather balloons are sent into higher regions of the atmosphere and measure changes in temperature, winds and other elements A radio transmits data back to earth.

Weather forecasts are not always accurate, partly because humans make mistakes when they enter data, partly because the condition of the atmosphere always changes and is unpredictable.

Meteorologists can therefore predict weather over a short period of time fairly well, however long term weather predictions are very inaccurate.

A meteorologist studying weather maps
Image: NOAA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Extreme Weather

Although weather experts rely on average temperatures over a longer period of time to predict the weather, there are often extreme weather conditions.

The lowest temperature ever recorded on earth was at Vostok, a station in Antarctica. –89° C was measured in 1983 . The highest temperature was recorded in the Libyan desert in 1922 (57°C). The highest annual rainfall was measured in Cherrapunji, India , at the foot of the Himalayan mountain range. 26 metres of rain fell over a one year period.

Sign in Cherrapunji – the wettest place on the planet
Image: No machine-readable author provided. RMehra~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims).,
CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Antarctica is the coldest and windiest place on earth. Almost the entire continent is covered with ice that is up to 5 km thick near the South Pole. Antarctica is a desert because it doesn’t get very much precipitation. Some areas get less than 70 mm a year, in the form of snow.

Antarctica has an area of about 14 million square kilometers, about one and a half times the size of Europe. The continent consists of many mountain ranges that rise up through the ice sheets. Ice flows down the valleys to the sea where it turns into ice shelves. When ice breaks off icebergs are formed.

Much of the ocean around Antarctica is frozen all year round. Some of it melts during the summer months but it still extends a few hundred km from the coast.

Even though the continent gets more sunlight than the equator it is the coldest place on Earth because the ice reflects heat back into space. The average winter temperature is about -70° C. Soviet scientists at the Vostok station recorded -89.2° in July 1983. Strong winds make the climate even more extreme and impossible to live in.

Image:Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica team,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Animal Life

Today life only exists near the coastal areas of the continent. Insects, primitive plants and mosses can be found. In the interior part of the continent algae live in rocks that are free of ice. Over 20 types of seabirds breed in the Antarctic region, The best known are the penguins. Tiny sea creatures that look like shrimps called krill are important to the continent’s ecosystem. They are food for whales, seals, birds and other smaller animals.

Emperor penguins near Antarctic coast
Image:Image ID: corp2417, NOAA Corps CollectionPhotographer: Giuseppe ZibordiCredit: Michael Van Woert, NOAA NESDIS, ORA,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Antarctica’s Past

More than 200 million years ago Antarctica, South America, India and Australia formed one big continent called Gondwana. As time went on this big mass of land broke apart and the continents started to drift away from each other. Under the ice sheets there is evidence that Antarctica once had a tropical climate. Fossils of ancient kangaroos were also discovered – proof that Australia and Antarctica once belonged together. The largest fossil ever discovered was a 9 meter long whale said to be about 40 million years old.

Exploration and Discovery

For centuries the existence of Antarctica was not known. In the 19th century expeditions from the United States, France and Britain explored the oceans and the coast of Antarctica. In the early 1900s the race got underway to reach the South Pole. The first explorer to reach the South Pole was Roald Amundsen of Norway in 1911. Close behind him was a British naval officer Robert Scott. Scott reached the Pole about a month later but he died along with his men on the trip back.

In the years that followed, explorers and scientists from many countries travelled to Antarctica. Among them was Admiral Richard Byrd, who became the first to pilot an airplane over the South Pole.

The modern age of exploration began at the end of the 1950s when many countries started setting up scientific stations on the continent. In December 1959 the Antarctic Treaty was signed by 12 nations. These nations have promised to use Antarctica for peaceful purposes. The treaty also forbids nuclear testing and military activities.

Amundsen’s team reach the South Pole in 1911
Image: Olav Bjaaland , Public Domain, via Wikipedia

The Present and the Future

Scientists study Antarctica in order to learn many of the world’s secrets. The ozone layer has become very thin over the continent. The continent is also believed to have mineral resources like oil, coal and many valuable metals. But Antarctica’s harsh climate makes finding these raw materials very difficult. In addition many governments are willing to protect Antarctica’s environment in the future. 24 countries signed a treaty that will forbid the drilling of oil and mining for the next 50 years.

Amundsen-Scott station at the South Pole
Image: Cmichel67, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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In the 20th century factory ships revolutionized the whaling business. Whales were caught and processed on board. Advanced technology made it possible to track whales in the water.

Whaling is important in Norway, Iceland and other countries in the northern Atlantic as well as in Japan. For many years, the International Whaling Commission set quotas for each country. In 1986, it banned whaling altogether, so that the population would recover. Some countries in which whaling is a major source of income, including Iceland and Norway, do not obey the ban set by the International Whaling Commission, but have set their own catch quotas. Since the ban, over 30,000 whales have been killed. Japan, on the other side, allows whaling for research purposes. Whale meat has always been an important part of the Japanese diet.

The IWC allows some people to continue hunting whales, for example, the Inuit of the Arctic region. They rely on whale meat for food and use whale oil in everyday life.

Native Americans carving meat and fat out of whales
Image: Asahel Curtis , Public Domain via Wikipedia

All in all there are thirteen types of whales. Many of these species have been extremely decimated. Some are showing signs of population increase, but the blue and grey whales are still in danger of becoming extinct. There are other threats to whales as well. Some are killed through collision with ships, others by the loud noises that ocean vessels make.

Whales are important to humans for many reasons. In remote regions, whale oil is still used as fuel for lamps. It has also been widely used to make cosmetics, soap, candle wax and washing powder. For centuries, baleen was used to make roofs. Many cultures used the mammal’s bones to make tools and carve masks.

The future of whaling is unclear. Although environmentalists are constantly campaigning against hunting whales, countries like Norway and Japan claim it is deeply rooted in their country’s tradition.

Over the past decades , whale watching has become an important part of the tourist industry in many countries. It generates about $2 billion in income worldwide and employs 13,000 workers.

Whale watching off the coast off Maine, USA
Image: The original uploader was NightThree at English Wikipedia., CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons