Did You Know: Micro-climate

I can only hope that everyone has heard of the term "climate", but who has heard of the term "micro-climate". Well, if you use fancy reading skills that we learn in school and break up the word it goes like this:

Micro - small

Climate - weather conditions in an area

So, put micro and climate together and you get the weather conditions in a small area. Small is a completely relative term (a small amount of peanuts or a small elephant), but small in this case is from the top of the hill to the bottom, or the east side of the lake compared to the west side of the lake. 

When my class went to the Urban Ecology Center last week, Nancy was describing the slight differences that can occur to a riverside when a mature tree is removed and asked us what would happen once that tree is gone.

To answer this question, you have to first ask yourself "What does a tree do?" The answer for this is that it provides shade, it holds the soil together (its roots do the work), creates a habitable environment for various creatures, and many more things. 

Once you know that information you are then able to ask "How does this affect micro-climate?"

The final answer is if there is no shade, the rays of sun are able to shine on a spot and make it hotter. This then affects the temperature of the river that runs alongside it and can affect the plants and animals that live there. If there are no roots to hold the soil together, there will be a lot of erosion which can cause other species in that area to lose their environment.

All-n-all this lesson circles around to that one action can lead to many more than just one reaction. This is the lesson that we learn when we look at a portion of Pocahontas. It doesn't matter whether the action is going to be with our big climate or with our micro-climate, we are all connected and will ultimately be affected by what our actions have created or destroyed.