Climate Controls

Latitude: about 30 degrees N -due to lower latitude and closer proximity to the equator, Pakistan receives more direct sunlight than countries of higher latitude. Higher latitude also results in higher levels of precipitation. Because Pakistan is a continental area, it has a larger seasonal temperature change and more precipitation because it is directly next to the water source of the ocean. Pakistan also has a variety of elevations that affect temperature. Some areas are above 1000 meters in elevation and there are also mountain ranges of 5000 meters. In these regions, temperature is cooler as altitude increases. Furthermore, as the warm ocean currents on the coast of Pakistan generate a warmer air temperature. Pakistan hovers around a subtropical high with the coastal regions exhibiting a wet summer and a dry winter and the more maritime regions being more dry.


( climate graph of Islamabad( capital of Pakistan)

The dominant climate of Pakistan is continental and it generally experiences wet summers and dry winters. Summer temperatures can range very high whereas winters are known to be extremely cold. The most precipitation occurs in august, ranging roughly around 300mm throughout the country.

Waste Management

The waste management system in Pakistan is less then satisfactory as there is a lack of landfills. Instead, it is common for people to illegally dump their waste throughout the country. There is lack of concern for waste management/treatment systems and therefore,the safety of the environment is not a topic of concern. Hazardous waste producing institutions including scientific and medical ones generally do not have the budget to use incinerators so hazardous waste is just dumped in areas such as low-lying areas and ditches or even just the side of the road. The incinerators that are used are run down and aren't maintained well. Overall, environmental and health safety is not a top priority in country.
The challenges of waste disposal are that there is basically nowhere to put the waste. Therefore, urban groundwater is polluted. Toxic waste is dumped in municipal waste disposal areas, contaminating the ground and people that it comes in contact with. Human waste isn't even treated properly as there are barely three somewhat functional sewage treatment plants. The rest of the sewage is used in agriculture. People are eating vegetables that have been watered by human fecal matter.
To improve waste management in Pakistan, the government needs to actually spend money on protecting the health and cleanliness of their country. Approximately 1.3% of Pakistan's budget is used for health purposes.This seems incredibly low as 23.1% of their money is spent on Military. Pakistan needs to invest in more properly functional incinerators, landfills, and sewage treatment plants for the safety and livability of their country.

5 themes of the environment

1) Location
 Includes absolute (longitude and latitude) and relative ( in relation to another place) location

the absolute location of Pakistan is on the coordinates, 33.6667° N, 73.1667° E
the relative location of Pakistan is in South Asia where it is bordered by Iran, Afghanistan, India, and the Arabian Sea

2) Human Interaction
The relationship between humans and their environment,
Ex. In Pakistan, humans mine the lithosphere to extract minerals and earn money

3) Movement
Includes movement of ideas, goods, and people ( travel)       
Ex. Pakistan transports it's petroleum to other countries

4)Region
An area with unifying characteristics
Ex. Pakistan's three main areas are the northern highlands, the plains, and the plateau.

5)Place
Includes human( housing and industry) and physical characteristics (land and resources)
Ex. Pakistan has a varying landscape of flat and elevated/steep ground. Some of its resources include coal, precious gems, and salt. Housing is generally low cost and its largest industry is cotton/textile production. 

Super Cyclone Gonu

Super Cyclone Gonu was one of the most powerful cyclones to be recorded in the middle east. Formed on January 1, 2007,  the category-five hurricane unleashed wind speeds reaching 240 kilometers per hour
. 

The aftermath of this cyclone was devastating as including 37 missing persons, there were 78 fatalities recorded. Thousands were left homeless and waterlogged cars lay scattered and upturned on the demolished street. Off of the destroyed coast of Pakistan,fishing ships were reported to have been stranded and damaged. Economic impact included a spike in oil prices due to the storm's interference with oil shipping and gas prices increased due to the damming of Sur's large gas terminal. As of the biosphere, plants were waterlogged and dead, animals were killed, and so were humans. The lithosphere had also been altered due to flooding. The hydrosphere impact was the enormous amount of precipitation.

Weather and climate questions

1. Rays from the sun
2. There is more direct sunlight in contact with the earth in the equatorial regions which results in radiation and warmth.
3. Albedo: refracted solar energy that bounces off the earth’s reflective surface and enters space. A snow covered mountain would absorb less radiation as its reflectivity would cause sun rays to bounce off of it
4. Laps Rate: rate at which the temperature of the atmosphere lowers with higher altitudesex. Elevated mountains are cold. Flat deserts are hot.

5. Aspect: Compass direction of where a slope faces. The north side is a better area for plants.

6 The earth’s axis is tilted. When the axis tilts towards the sun, it is summer and as it tilts away from the sun, winter occurs.

7. Water has the higher albedo so it will take longer to heat up than less reflective land.

8. Because the parries are far away from water, the land absorbs the most heat and therefore has the capacity to be much warmer than coastal areas.

9. Water is cooled in the atlantic from arctic winds which results in higher salt concentration and density. As this stream of cold, dense water moves to the equator it is warmed. The gulf stream is the force that moves warm water from the Equator to the Atlantic.

10. The California Current runs past BC

11. Extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will result in the greenhouse affect, causing the earth to be warmer.

12. Convection: Vertical transport of atmospheric properties

13. Movement of air due to pressure difference in the atmosphere

14. Urban heat island: metropolitan area where man-made factors including land modification cause it to have a significantly warmer temperature.

Air masses, Global winds, and Types of Rain

The dominant air mass that impacts Pakistan is mostly Tropical (due to low latitude and warm weather) and mostly Continental (although one part of it is in contact with the ocean, the land is mostly inland). Towards the coast, the climate varies from warm to breezy however as the country progresses more inland, there are higher elevations and generally cooler temperatures. The changing of the seasons is characterized by a cold, dry winter, a hot and dry winter, and a wet summer of monsoons. The country of Pakistan is affected by the trade winds. Pakistan is also in close proximity to the Indian Ocean Gyre. The most abundant source of rainfall in Pakistan is in the form of the southwest monsoon, a natural occurrence that causes many intense floods And land-issues. It is common because of Pakistan's proximity to the cold regions of Asia (Himalayas). Monsoons blow from the cold to warm regions so the wind that blow through regions such as the Himalayas bring the Monsoons to Pakistan.

Kashmir Quake

On October 8, 2005, what has been ranked as the 15th deadliest earthquake to have been recorded occurred in the northwest region of Asia. The Kashmir earthquake struck the India-Pakistan boarder and killed approximately 73,000 people while rendering 3.3 million homeless.

The region of Kashmir is located at the juncture of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates which is considered seismically unstable. When they collided, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Northern India were gravely affected.

The juncture of the earthquake was devastating as buildings literally slid off of the earth. Entire parts of towns ended up sliding off of cliffs and the landslides buried roads and buildings. Large cracks were formed in the once-flat ground and towers collapsed. Many of the survivors who were left in this desolation froze to death in the winter. Furthermore, necessary resources were scarce as food was an issue and broken sewage pipes introduced contamination to the water supply, spreading disease those who drank it.

This earthquake had affected the lithosphere(tectonic movement), the biosphere(humans and infrastructure), and the hydrosphere(water supply). The earthquake caused the lithosphere to change shape as the tectonic plates  moved. Cracked ground and landslides also indicate an effect to the lithosphere. The humans who were killed/injured, the dying animals, scarcity of plants, and destroyed infrastructure are all part of the biosphere which was affected by the shock of the lithosphere. Furthermore, the pollution of the water supply involves the hydrosphere which was initiated by the lithosphere and effected the biosphere (humans). Hydrospheric change in wave activity could have been initiated by the movement of the lithosphere. The movement of the lithosphere may have also affected the atmosphere by releasing methane gas. Methane itself has been known to cause global warming in the atmosphere which would affect the humans of the biosphere.Moreover, global warming affects the hydrosphere by causing natural sources of freshwater to melt. This earthquake drastically impacted the four spheres.