Weather , Climate and Adaption of Animals --

Notes
Weather influences our lives in different ways. During summer, we
switch on fans to keep ourselves cool, we use light coloured
clothes in order to reflect the heat. During winter, we use dark
colour clothes and wrap ourselves in warm clothes to protect us
from cold environment. Similarly, during the rainy season, we use
umbrella or raincoat as it may rain anytime. The weather of a
place changes day after day and week after week. It is a complex
phenomenon that may vary over very short periods of time (like
hour to hour).
Therefore, our daily activities are planned according to the
weather predicted for a particular day. The daily report of weather
is provided on television, radio and even in newspaper.
Weather
It may be defined as the day to day condition of the atmosphere
at a place with respect to the temperature, humidity, rainfall,
wind speed, etc.
Elements of Weather
The temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind speed and other factors
are called the elements of the weather which are described below:
1. Temperature
The weather is mainly affected by the sun that produces heat and
raise the temperature. The sun provides light as well as heat on
the earth. It is necessary for the production of energy. The < heat
from the sun is absorbed by the earth’s surface, oceans and
atmosphere which plays an important role in determining the
weather of any place.
Therefore, it is clear that change in weather is caused due to the
sun because the changes occurring in the sun’s heat will change
the atmosphere more frequently. The time of sunrise and sunset
also changes throughout the year.
2. Rainfall
The amount of water droplets that fall back on the earth after
condensation of water vapours is called rainfall. When the
temperature is too low, these droplets in the cloud get freezed
into crystals of ice and comes on the earth as snowfall. During
winters, the temperature falls after sunset causing condensation
of water vapours near the ground. These droplets hang in the air
to form fog.
Note: Rainfall is generally measured in millimetre. The
instrument that is used to measure the rainfall is called rain
guage. It is a measuring cylinder with a funnel kept on its top
which collects the rainwater. The rainwater collected in the
measuring cylinder gives the measure of rainfall.
3. Humidity
It is defined as ‘the amount of water vapour in air which causes
dampness of air’. Air has the ability to hold certain . amount of
water vapour. The capacity of air to hold water increases with rise
in temperature and falls if heavy rainfall occurs. The humidity is
measured by the instrument called hygrometer which consists of
two thermometers.
The bulb of one thermometer is wet and the other is dry.
4. Wind Speed
It is caused due to the difference in air pressure. During summer,
the wind blows from Indian ocean and Bay of Bengal and causes
rain in India while during winter, it blows from the mountain of
north India towards northern plain and causes cold weather
(winter season).
Weather Prediction
The prediction of weather is done by scientists, called
meteorologist, who study the changes in the weather. The
weather is predicted by studying the patterns of weather and
factors affecting them. The science which deals with the study of
weather is called meteorology. In India, the weather reports are
prepared by the Meteorological Department of Government. This
department collects the data of temperature, wind, etc., and
predicts whether on television or radio or newspaper. The weather
report is recorded everyday in the form of graph and published in
a table form showing readings of different elements of weather.
Difference in Time of Sunrise and Sunset
There is the difference in the time of sunrise during summer and
winter. In summer the sun rises earlier in the morning and the sun
sets late in the evening during the month of June, while sun rises
late and sets early in the month of December.
Therefore, days are longer and night shorter in summers while
day is shorter and night is longer during winter.
Climate
‘The average weather pattern taken over a long time, is called the
climate of that place.’ Different places in the world have different
types of climate. The annual record of long term average
temperature and rainfall at a particular place is called climate
chart. It gives an idea about the climate at a particular place
during a specific period of the year. The major factor which
determines the climate of a place is called latitude (imaginary
lines on earth).
Factors that Determine the Climate
The several factors that determine the climate at a place are
 Distance from the sea Climate of a place varies according to
the closeness of the sea. The places that are near the sea,
are moderate (not too hot nor too cold), e.g. Mumbai,
Chennai. While the places that are away from the sea have
extreme climate, having very hot summer or too cold winter,
e.g. Delhi.
 Altitude or height above sea level Climate also varies
according to the altitude. The higher altitudes are cooler,
e.g. Himalaya.
 Humidity It also determines the climate of a place. Kolkata
and Kerala have high humidity, while. Rajasthan and
Haryana have low humidity.
Climates in India
The climate of India varies in different regions. These can be
described as below:
 The northern region of Himalayas has cold and moderately
wet climate (e.g. Kashmir).
 Plains has a moderately hot and wet climate (e.g. Uttar
Pradesh).
 South has very hot and wet climate (e.g. Kerala).
 The western region has hot and dry climate (e.g. Rajasthan).
 North-Eastern India has wet climate (e.g. Assam) and
receives rain for a major part of the year.
Climate and Adaptation
The ability of an organism to develop certain features which
improve the chances of its survival in the environment in which
they live, is known as adaptation. Animals are adapted to survive
in the conditions in which they live. In other words, an adaptation
is a trait of an organism that has been favoured by natural
selection.
Adaptations are of three types:
(i) Structural adaptations Adaptation of special body parts of an
organism that helps it to survive in its natural habitat, e.g. skin
colour, shape, body covering.
(ii) Behavioural adaptations Adaptation of special ways in a
particular organism that helps it to survive in its
natural habitat. It usually occurs in response to some external
stimuli, e.g. frogs and bear undergoes hibernation or winter sleep
during hard winter season.
(iii) Physiological adaptations Adaptation of body systems
presents in an organism that allows it to perform the certain
biochemical reaction, e.g. warm-blooded animals are able to keep
the constant body temperature.
Animals that live in a very cold or hot climate must possess
special features to protect themselves against extreme cold or
heat. The features and habits that help an animal to adapt to their
surrounding are a result of the process of evolution. According to
their habitat animals adapt themselves. These animals may be
grouped as polar region and tropical rainforest animals.
The Polar Regions
The polar regions as the name suggest are situated near the
poles, i.e. north pole and south pole. The countries that belong to
the polar regions are Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway,
Sweden, Finland, Alaska in USA and Siberian region of Russia.
Polar regions show’ extremely colder climate which is covered
with snow and remain cold for most part of the year. In this
region, the sun does not set for six months and even does not rise
for other six months. The temperature goes down below -37°C,
during winters in polar regions. The ground remains frozen most
of the year and water becomes available only during the short
summer when snow melts. Mosses and short lived flowering
plants grow in these regions.
Animals living in these regions are adapted in different ways to
cope with the conditions of temperature, light and moisture and
also according to the availability of food in that region. Polar bears
and penguins are the animals that live in polar region. Besides
these whales, seals are the other animals are also found in polar
regions. Some fishes, foxes, musk oxen, reindeer and birds also
live in polar regions.
Adaptations in Polar Bear
Polar bear is a large and white bear that lives in the north polar
region of the earth. The polar bear mainly feeds on fishes and
seal and can survive in the extremely cold climate of polar regions
due to the following adaptations:
(i) Their body is covered by a thick coat of white fur. It helps them
to blend with their surrounding snow white back ground and
cannot be noticed by their predators. Beneath the fur is a thick
coat of fat which insulates the body from cold and keeps the bear
warm.
(ii) A polar bear is a good swimmer which has wide and large
paws that help it to swim. These paws also help bear to walk on
the snow easily.
(iii) They have a strong sense of smell so that they can locate
their prey easily. They also possess small ears to keep the body
surface area to the minimum and reduce the heat loss from the
body.
(iv) The thick layer of fat beneath the skin also stores food in
winter when food is scarce. This stored food (fat) also helps the
mother polar bear to survive in the winter when they undergo
hibernation beneath the snow with their newborn cubs.

Adaptations in Penguins
Another well-known animal living in the polar regions is the
penguin which can survive due to the following adaptations:
(i) These are black and white in colour which merges well with the
white background of ice and snow.
(ii) They have thick skin and a thick layer of fat below their skin
which protects them from extreme cold.
(iii) They possess a streamlined body, flipper-like wings and
webbed feet which make it a good swimmer. This adaptation
helps penguin to catch fish as prey. They live together in large
numbers and huddle together to keep themselves warm.

Migration
Migration is the seasonal journey taken by different animals or
birds to escape the extreme climatic condition and the search of
food, e.g. Siberian cranes migrates towards warmer region in the
autumn by travelling several thousands of kilometers. They are
seen in the . Bharatpur, Rajasthan and Sultanpur, Haryana and
sometimes in wetland of North-East and other parts of India.
Migratory birds / sometimes travel as much as 15000 km to
escape the extreme climatic condition of their habitat.
These birds fly high where the wind flow is helpful and cold
conditions allow them to disperse the heat generated by their
flight muscles. These birds have a built in sense of direction and
know in which direction they have to travel. Some birds use
landmarks to guide them. Some birds are guided by the sun
during daytime and by stars during night. Some birds can use the
magnetic field of the earth to fnd the direction. Besides birds
some fishes, insects and mammals also migrate seasonally in
search of more hospitable climates.
The Tropical Rainforest
The tropical region lies near both the sides of equator line on the
earth. These regions are hot but get plenty of rainfall. Therefore,
this region is humid. Even in coldest month, the temperature is
generally higher than about 15°C. During hot summers, the
temperature may cross 40°C. Days and nights are almosts equal
in length throughout the year. Tropical rainforest is the important
feature of tropical region. These regions are rich in vegetation and
large diversity in animals is also seen in this region.
In India, tropical rainforests are found in Western Ghats and
Assam, other countries of the world like South, East Asia, Central
America, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Republic of Congo, Kenya,
Uganda, Nigeria and Central Africa also have tropical rainforest.
The major type of animals living in the rainforest are monkeys,
apes, gorillas, tigers, elephants, leopards, lizards, snakes, birds
and insects. Since, there are large number of animals found in
these regions. There is an intense competition for food and
shelter among these animals. So, the animals are adapted in such
a way that they eat different kinds of food and live in different
kinds of places to overcome competition for food and shelter
respectively. The adaptations in different animals living in tropical
rainforests can be discussed as follows:
Adaptations in Red-eyed Frog
The red-eyed frog lives on trees in tropical rainforest. They have
sticky pads on their feet that help them to climb trees. It does not
live in water and has a green back and a creamy underside. It has
big and bulging bright-red eyes and it is a nocturnal. It sleeps
during the day and becomes active during night and feeds on the
insects present on the tree. The bulging eye of frog protects it
from its predator. The sudden opening of big and bright-red eyes
frightens the predator for a while and in the meantime the frog
gets time to jump to a safe place. The green colour of the frog
helps it to hide within the green leaves of the tree and helps it to
protect from predators.
Adaptations in Monkey
The monkeys living in tropical rainforests have long tails for
grasping branches. Their hands and feet are adapted in such a
way that they can easily hold the branches of trees. The eyesight
of monkeys is very good which helps them in leaping between the
branches to escape from their predators. Monkeys eat fruits,
seeds, leaves, root and insects as their food which is present in
abundance in tropical rainforest.
Adaptations in Lion-Tailed Macaque
It is also called as beard ape and lives in the rainforest of Western
Chats in India. It has silver-white mane which surrounds the head
from the cheeks down to its chin which is the specific
characteristic of this animal. It is called lion-tailed because its tail
is like that of lion having bunch or tuft of hair at the end.
They spend most of their time feeding in the upper canopy of
trees (i.e. arboreal animal). It mainly feeds on fruits, seeds, young
leaves, stems, flowers and buds. They also can eat insects
present under the bark of the tree. Since, it is able to get
sufficient food on trees. It rarely comes down on the ground and
spends a major part of its life on the tree. It is a good climber with
its hand and feet adapted to hold the branches of trees firmly.
Adaptation in Toucan
Toucan is a bird, which is found in tropical rainforest and which
possesses a long strong and large beak. This bird is adapted for
tropical rainforest in several ways. It is a colourful bird which
possesses a strange beak. It lives most of the time in the holes of
big trees.
The long and large beak helps Toucan to reach the fruits attached
to the ends of even thin branches of tree that are weak enough to
support its weight. It is an adaptation of this bird to get the
unreachable fruits. Its large beak also helps in temporary storage
of fruits which is collected by Toucan. These possess feet that are
adapted for grasping the branches of trees firmly. Toucan can
change the colour of its feather, so as to get mixed up with the
surrounding and they are not easily noticed by predators and
remain safe.
Adaptations in Lion and Tiger
These are also called as big cats and are carnivore which eat only
flesh of other animals. These have following adaptations to
survive in tropical rainforest:
 They have thick skin and skin colour helps them to
camouflage (ability of the animal to match their surrounding,
e.g. chameleon, butterfly). The yellow brown colour of lion
and black stripes of tiger helps them to hide in the forest by
blending with the surroundings. It helps these carnivores to
catch their prey.
 They have strong sense of smell which helps them to locate
their prey.
 They also develop sensitive hearing capacity to find its prey.
  They have eyes in front of their head which enable them to
have a correct idea of the location of their prey. They also
have good eyesight.
 Their strong legs help them to run fast and long, sharp and
strong claws in front of their legs help them to catch and tear
their prey.
Adaptations in Elephant
Elephant is a well-known animal of Indian tropical rainforest.
These are plant eaters and are adapted in many remarkable ways
to survive in tropical rainforest. These adaptations can be
discussed as follows:
(i) The elephant has a long trunk which is used as nose and has a
strong sense of smell. It also helps elephant to pick up the food.
The long trunk is also used for breathing. It can reach up to the
branches of trees and help it to eat tree leaves. It is used for
sucking water from lakes or rivers (drinking).
(ii) The elephant possesses tusks (long pointed teeth) that are
used in tearing the bark of trees which the
elephant loves to eat as food. It also helps elephant to fight their
enemies and protecting themselves.
(iii) The elephant has large ears that help it to hear even very soft
sounds and can sense the danger. It also helps the elephant to
keep it cool in the hot and humid climate of the tropical forest.
(iv) The feet of the elephant is large and round which help it to
provide good stability and also prevent it from sinking into soft
ground due to its heavy weight.