weather and climate Weather is the mix of events that happen each day in our atmosphere including temperature, rainfall and humidity. Weather is not the same everywhere. Perhaps it is hot, dry and sunny today where you live, but in other parts of the world it is cloudy, raining or even snowing. Everyday, weather events are recorded and predicted by meteorologists worldwide. Climate in your place on the globe controls the weather where you live. Climate is the average weather pattern in a place over many years. So, the climate of Antarctica is quite different than the climate of a tropical island. Hot summer days are quite typical of climates in many regions of the world, even without the effects of global warming. Climates are changing because our Earth is warming, according to the research of scientists. Does this contribute to a warm summer day? It may, however global climate change is actually much more complicated than that because a change in the
Transcript
weather and climate
Weather is the mix of events that happen each day in our
atmosphere including temperature, rainfall and humidity.
Weather is not the same everywhere. Perhaps it is hot, dry
and sunny today where you live, but in other parts of the
world it is cloudy, raining or even snowing. Everyday,
weather events are recorded and predicted by
meteorologists worldwide.
Climate in your place on the globe controls the weather where you live. Climate is the average weather pattern in a place over
many years. So, the climate of Antarctica is quite different than the climate of a tropical island. Hot summer days are quite typical
of climates in many regions of the world, even without the effects
of global warming.
Climates are changing because our Earth is warming, according
to the research of scientists. Does this contribute to a warm summer day? It may, however global climate change is actually
much more complicated than that because a change in the
temperature can cause changes in other weather elements such
as clouds or precipitation.
Difference Between Weather and Climate
Whether Climate
Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a
short period of time Weather is what you see
outside on any particular day. So, for example, it may be 75° degrees and sunny or it could
be 20° degrees with heavy snow.
That’s the weather. weather can change from
Climate is how the atmosphere "behaves" over relatively long
periods of time. Climate as the average
weather for a particular region and time period, usually taken
over 30-years. It's really an average pattern of weather for
a particular region.
minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour, day-to-day, and season-to-
season.
Climate is the average of that weather. For example, you can expect snow in the Northeast in January or for it to be hot and humid in the Southeast in July.
Natural light
Natural light is light that comes from the sun. It is contrasted
with artificial light, which comes from light bulbs, fires and other man-made fixtures used in homes.
People often look for natural lighting when they purchase or build a home. Natural lighting is often bright enough to allow people to
avoid turning on artificial lighting sources during the day, reducing how much energy a home uses. Whiles windows are the most
common source of natural lighting, sunroofs or skylights are sometimes installed in ceilings to allow in natural light. Some
homeowners enjoy natural lighting because it connects them to nature, with some people using it as an alarm clock.
USING NATURAL LIGHT
Making the most of natural light around the home will reduce the need for artificial lighting and save you energy and money.
Light-coloured walls and surfaces will enhance the natural light
around your home without needing extra energy. Use pale
shades on your interior walls and use mirrors to reflect natural
light, particularly in dark rooms.
Use natural light in areas that would usually need artificial
lighting by installing skylights and transparent roof panels or
extra windows.
You can also install daylight controls where there's natural light
in your home. These controls will automatically manage power
to your lights, providing powered light during hours of darkness and will turn off during daylight hours.
For decorative garden lighting, consider stand-alone solar
powered lights. Powered by the daytime sun rather than your electricity supply, they also mean no more cables running
through the garden.
Uses of Natural Light
The sun provides earth with plenty of natural light during the day, and
this free light has many uses. When you take advantage of sunlight, you
save energy and may even feel better in the process. Stores carry light
bulbs that mimic the broad spectrum of the light produced by the sun,
but they rarely compare to real natural light.
Health Benefits UV radiation from the sun causes skin cancer, but only in high doses
over many years. Small daily doses of natural light help you sleep,
according to Deborah Kotz in a June 2008 article for "US News and
World Report." Exposing yourself to natural light tells your body to stop
melatonin production. This prevents daytime drowsiness. Exposure to
sunlight also causes the body to produce more serotonin. Low serotonin
production is believed to be a cause of depression. People who suffer
from Seasonal Affective Disorder find relief by using lamps that mimic
the spectrum of natural light in the winter, when less sunlight is
available.
Home Lighting
Using a light bulb during the day to illuminate a dark room is
unnecessary if you take advantage of natural light in designing your
home. The Partnership for Advanced Housing Technology says that
properly placed windows let in a fair amount of light but lower the
home's insulation value slightly. Skylights are better insulated, and their
roof-mounted positions offer more natural lighting for a longer period
during the day. Using natural light in your home reduces your electricity
bills and creates a more enjoyable indoor environment.
Houseplants
Plants grow best in natural light, which contains a broad spectrum of
colors. House plants often grow slowly or lose leaves due to inadequate
light. Southern-facing windows provide the most natural light for indoor
plants, says the Texas A&M University Agricultural Extension Office.
Eastern and western-facing Windows may also work, but they only
receive 60 percent of the light a Southern-facing window does.
Fluorescent lights provide the blue spectrum of light most plants use for
leaf production, but are missing the infrared wavelengths of natural
light, which stimulates flowering.
WINDOWS
Open blinds and curtains to admit as much light as possible on
sunny days and situate work areas, like desks and kitchen
benches, close to sources of natural light.
It is important to be careful not to add extra heat to your home
(for example by adding western facing windows). For homes that
are dark inside, think about installing windows or sliding doors on the northern side of the house.
If you're renovating or building your home, consider double
glazing windows when you want to exclude heat but let light in.
Installing frosted glass can help lighten a room without compromising privacy. You can also admit light but keep the
warmth of the sun out by installing tracking louvres in your
home.
How to use natural light Paint interior walls in pale shades and use mirrors to reflect natural light, particularly in dark rooms.
On bright, sunny days (that aren’t too hot) open blinds and
curtains to admit as much light as possible.
If your house is especially dark, think about installing large
windows on the north side of the house, or even French doors. Make windows taller rather than wider, to admit more light.
Situate work areas, such as desks and kitchen sinks and benches, close to sources of natural light.
Consider installing skylights in dark corners such as hallways or
small rooms with no windows.To minimise heat flow, make sure they are covered at night and shaded at midday in summer.
A cheap and effective alternative to a skylight is a sky tube or solar tube (pictured above). It concentrates and reflects natural
light through a diffuser into the room below. The light generated is the equivalent of a 100-watt bulb.A sky tube loses less heat than
a skylight and can be fitted with an exhaust fan as well as a light
for night-time.
Designing Your Home for Maximum Natural Lighting
There are many benefits to having more natural light in
your home. The most obvious of these are the savings you
can achieve with a reduced utility bill. According to the U.S.
Department of Energy (2012), about 10% of household
electricity usage comes from lighting. The more natural light
you have in your house, the less lights you have to turn on,
and the less electricity you use. Another benefit, also related
to energy use, is natural light can help heat homes. One of
the best reasons to design your home for natural light involves
the health benefits gained through exposure to natural light.
According to the journal Environmental Health Perspectives
(Mead, 2008), below are some of the researched health benefits
of sunlight:
• Sunlight increases the level of endorphins and serotonin in
your brain, which will leave you feeling much better.
• Increased exposure to sunlight can be effective against
insomnia, premenstrual syndrome and seasonal affective
disorder.
• The ultraviolet rays in sunshine act as a natural antiseptic.
• Vitamin D is best absorbed into bodies through sunlight.
• Sunlight helps prevent diseases such as rickets in children and
osteoporosis in both men and women.
If you want to see these benefits in your life, consider the following
before beginning construction of your new home.
Positioning Your Home
The position of your home, in regards to the sun, can be one
of the most important factors in maximizing the use of the sun.
Here, in the northern hemisphere, the sun is always to our south.
That means that whichever wall is facing south will receive the
most sunlight. To maximize the sun use, place the longest side
of your house facing south. Design this south facing wall with
little to no jogs and offsets, which would increase shade on the
south side and thus reduce light.
Also consider what rooms will be sharing this south-facing
wall. If our goal is to maximize natural light, then we would
want the rooms with the most daytime activity to be along
this wall. The two rooms most often used by a typical family
are the kitchen and the laundry room. Not only are these
two rooms most often used, the tasks preformed in the
kitchen and laundry room need the most light. Design first
for maximum light in these two rooms. You might also
want to consider what rooms you want the least amount of
natural light in. For example, having your TV room located
where there is a lot of natural light might entice you to
draw your blinds in order to avoid glares. It may become
habit to just leave the blinds closed in a room such as this.
Your last consideration may be personal preference. For
example, if you are the type of person that enjoys waking
up to the sun, plan on at least partially placing the master
bedroom along the south wall, so that you can enjoy the
benefits of the morning sun. Others may like to have a
darker bedroom. These people should place the bedroom
along the north wall.
Windows
The easiest and cheapest way to get natural light into
your home is with windows. Consider the following when
designing for window space.
Windows let in a lot of natural light, but with this benefit also
comes a lot of natural heat. This heat is desirable during the
winter months, but can be despised during the hot summer
months. The following glass distributions can maximize
lighting without overheating your home (Ortlepp, 2011):
• South facing walls – 5% to 12% of the floor area of
the house.
• East facing walls – less than 4% of the floor area.
• West facing walls – less than 2% of the floor area.
• North facing walls – less than 4% of the floor area.
Take Away Points
1. Position your longest wall facing south.
2. Avoid obstructing sunlight along south-facing wall.
3. Place rooms most often used during daytime along that
south facing walls.
Solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from thesun harnessed
using a range of ever-evolving technologies such as solar
heating, solarphotovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solararchitecture and artificial photosynthesis.
It is an important source of renewable energy and its technologies
are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture and distribute solar
energy or convert it into solar power. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar
power and solar water heating to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting
materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.
In 2011, the International Energy Agency said that "the
development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits. It will increase
