Microclimate

MICROCLIMATE

by Antonio C. Antonio

February 24, 2015

Have you ever wondered why it is very hot while the weather report indicates fair weather?  You probably are in a highly urbanized area where the landscape is characterised by buildings and pavement.  A weather report commonly describes the general weather condition for the entire country for the rest of the day.  There are, however, isolated and distinct weather conditions found in specific areas called microclimates.

What is a microclimate?  A microclimate is the climate which characterizes a local atmospheric zone.  A microclimate is of a very small or restricted area especially when it differs from the climate of the surrounding area.  The area of this local atmospheric zone could be as small as a few square meters or as large as a city.  The best examples of a microclimate are a shopping mall with centralized air conditioning or the City of Tagaytay.  These areas and places are both cool and comfortable but the areas surrounding them are hot and humid.  Microclimates could either be natural or man-made.

The more common influences to microclimate are the quality and quantity of vegetation and the slope of an area.  Highly urbanized areas are hot compared to highly vegetated areas.  Mountains have cooler weather conditions than the valleys and plains below.  Understanding the peculiarities of weather will never happen without necessarily studying the relationship and dynamics of climate and microclimate.

Just my little thoughts…

(For additional information on climate, please check on this blog “Weather and Climate” or click on this link: http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/2015/02/climate-and-weather.html.)

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