The climatic elements particularly temperature and rainfall play major roles on our environment. Temperature and rainfall help in the growth of vegetations,and timber productions for economic purposes. These encourage afforestation programmes, water cycle, agriculture, industrial growth Goethe comfort of man, and his animals.
Man has the mechanisms to adapt the changes in climatic conditions. Temperature is the most parameter that affects man. When the temperature is high, the environment becomes harsh to man as respiration becomes high and high water losses through sweating. In order to overcome harsh weather conditions some facilities and infrastructures must be provided to moderate or fire - tune the days temperature. At different temperature levels, there are specific conditions, for the environment which ranges from very cold to hot.
Temperature and rainfall assist the crops to grow very well. Rainfall supply the water needed at the root zone of the crop and the temperature provides the warmth required for the germination of seeds. The soil's warmth provides the favourable medium by which the micro organic activities take place. It helps to break down the mineral components of the soil which encourages absorption.
Let us take the Nigerian climate and vegetation as a case study.
Nigeria has basically two major vegetation types, the forest vegetation and savanna vegetation.
The forest vegetation includes salt water ( mangrove swamps) fresh water swamps and rain forest zone. The savannah includes guinea savanna, sudan and sahel savanna.
Generally, the vegetation of Nigeria is grouped under the following;
The mangrove and rainforest zones receive adequate rainfall throughout the year. The presence of moisture in the humidity encourages regular rainfall and the promotion of perennial trees. In guinea savanna there are combinations of tall trees and grasses. These trees and grasses develop long tap roots with thick bark that enables them to resist bush fires. Most of the trees have distinct shapes and small leaves. The canopies cover the entire land to prevent the loss of soil moisture while others shed their leaves in the dry season in order to minimize loss of water by transpiration. The grasses have durable roots that sprout with the onset of first rains.
The weather of a place can be modified by both the artificial and natural features. These features may be created by man such as dams, ponds, lakes which store water and encourage everporations and condensations. Natural features such as valleys, mountains, rivers, streams do modify the climate of an environment.
Heat production through waste burnings, use of fossils fuels, presence of carbon, carbon monoxide and so on, tend to warm the land and air. The warm air masses may be forced to rise to the atmosphere with the dust and water vapour and condensations occur later. The modification of the weather by natural or artificial features is called the microclimate.
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