Urdu community Contest / S2W4 – Weather and the role it plays in our lives by @bolaji001

Hi everyone. How is it going? We are already in the last week of the second season of the Engagement Challenge, time really flies. Nevertheless, welcome to my post, I will be discussing about Weather and the roles it plays in our lives, how it affects our decision making etc. as asked of us by the @Urdu-community in this contest. Sit back and enjoy, I promise to make it an interesting one.

Designed using canva

---

INTRODUCTION

---

To start with, I will be explaining/defining some terms related to the context of this post so I can be sure we are all on the same page.

Weather is the combination of the current temperature, amount and type of precipitation, wind, humidity, cloudiness etc. These are the current meteorological components. Basically, the weather is the combination of the current meteorological components. The weather defines the atmospheric condition for several hours or on daily basis.

Weather condition on the other hand, defines the typical atmospheric state in a region during a defined time range from one up to several weeks. Weather condition of a particular place, describes the typical weather occurrence in the place for a defined period of time of about a week and more (several weeks). For example, the weather condition during the Harmattan Season which comes around November till mid-March in western part of Africa is characterized with dry and dusty wind.

Climate is the average weather conditions for a specific region over many years. It is the long-time pattern of the weather in a particular region. We know weather can change hourly, daily and some times over several months, this pattern of change in weather of a particular region studied for at least over 30 years is the Climate of the region.

The difference between Weather, Weather condition and Climate might be subtle which is why many of us use them interchangeably. But it is imperative that we know and understand their differences.

One last thing I want to shine more light on are the meteorological components i.e. the elements of weather.
There are six main elements of weather, which together describes the weather at any given time.

(1) Temperature, a measure of the degree of hotness or coldness of the atmosphere. It influences the other 5 components of the weather, which is why it is considered a crucial determinant of the weather in any place.

(2)Humidity of a place is a measure of the water vapour present in the atmosphere

(3) Atmospheric pressure on the other hand, is the weight of air present in the atmosphere.

(4) Wind: Most of us are familiar with this one. It is simply air in motion that moves from high air pressure areas to areas of low air pressure.

(5) Precipitation is any form of water as a result of condensation of moisture. Precipitation can be in various forms which include snow, fog, rain, drizzle etc.

(6) Cloudiness, which describes the state of clouds in the atmosphere at a given time. For example, lighter clouds imply little of no form of precipitation, while heavier ones imply heavy rain.

---

How weather affect our life and play important role

---

From the rather lengthy introduction of weather, its related terminologies, the six basic elements of weather and even what we experience on daily basis, we can already tell how the weather affects our daily choices. The weather condition is what will determine the clothing we wear, the food we decide to eat, the modes of transport we take, the type of farming and corps we grow in an area, what natural or man-made resource is plentiful or scarce etc. This is how crucial a role the weather plays in our lives.

Since the weather affects or has a say in our decision making, it obviously would also affect our immediate community or town as well. For instance, on a rainy day there would be fewer activities going on outside as there would be way lesser people on the street. Even those out are usually in vehicles or using an umbrella trying to get home or to a more comfortable location.

The weather of a particular region also determines what food, fruits and vegetables can grow and are available. For example, in Nigeria where I currently reside, there is plentiful of maize right now because farmers (like they do annually) already took advantage of mid-march/April weather condition to plant maize and are now harvesting.

Another way weather affects our lives is through extreme/tragic weather events such as heavy rain, thunderstorms, hurricane, floods, wildfire etc. These weather events are not what any of us wish for, some just occurs periodically as Natural disasters while some are caused due to man-made activities over the years such as deforestation, fossils fuel burning etc.
These tragic events usually destroy lives and properties, leaving those affected no choice but to make huge life changing decisions. Since weather changes almost every time, it has a huge impact on our decision making and hence affect our lives.

To conclude this section, we can see that there is really no limit to the ways the weather in where we reside can affect our lives and daily decisions. I would only encourage you to take note and see how you consciously or subconsciously make decisions based on your current weather situation.

---

What kind of weather do you like and why you like it?

---

I currently reside in the south western part of Nigeria. Nigeria in general does not really have many weather seasons. It is mostly hot all year round with minor difference between winter and summer. Rainy and dry seasons are the major seasons across the country all year round, I prefer the Rainy or wet season here in south western Nigeria. When I say wet/rainy or cold season in Nigeria, I am talking about 20 degrees Celsius on average which is just a perfect temperature for me. It is not too hot not too cold. I also really like it when it rains, I just like the overall feeling. Though, I don't like heavy rains as they can be destructive, I prefer light rain.

---

What region do you live in? And what are the seasons in your region?

---

As I have mentioned a couple of times already in this post, I currently reside in South western part of Nigeria. Nigeria is characterized to have a tropical climate. Rainy and dry seasons are the major seasons across the country all year round.

Rainy/Wet Season: Rainy season in southern Nigeria lasts about seven month from March ending to late October or early November. Rain falls constantly and get really intense in Lagos during this time. According to my research and what I use to hear, Calabar is the rainiest state in the country all year round as rainfall pours till December. The central part of the country also experiences months of rainfall which could be heavy too while the Nothern part experiences fewer months of rainfall as it is closer to the Sahara Desert.
Basically, rainfall months decreases across the country from South to North.

Dry Season: Dry season in Nigeria, spans the month of November through March. It is in this season, the harmattan season comes around and lasts from December till March as well. This is why Dry season and Harmattan season are used interchangeably in Nigeria. The harmattan season is accompanied with dust and dry winds which blows from the Sahara Desert.

---

Depending on the season in your region or country or city, which rituals are more celebrated?

---

None of the two seasons has any ritual/festival accustomed with it. Though celebrations/festivals like Christmas and New year which occur at the ending of December and beginning of the year in January respectively are in the dry Season. Also, Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha festivals usually happen during rainy seasons.

---

What clothes and food do you like depending on the season (cultural reflection)?

---

I belong to the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria, one of the three major ethnic groups in the country.
During the rainy season
So, from the food point of view, I really love taking hot Amala with meat soup and "ewedu" during the rainy season. I also love to take hot tea when it is raining or immediately after it rains. These foods really keep me warm internally and make me function well. In Yoruba culture, the male traditional attire or outfit is "Buba" with "Sokoto" and at times we complete the dressing with "Agbada". The clothing material or fabric used to sew the outfit varies, it can be sewed with Ankara fabric, Lace fabric, Aso Oke fabric, Adire fabric etc. During rainy season, clothes sewed with Aso Oke fabric is the real deal as it can keep one warm and protected from cold. Also, regular cardigans or hoodies can be worn on clothes made with less thicker materials like the Ankara fabric.

During the dry season
I eat foods that keeps me hydrated all day long. I tend to take fruits like watermelon, cucumber, oranges etc. and when I eat regular food, I take a lot of water as well. I would also take cold drinks from time to time especially when out as the temperature during dry season can be very high.

I always have on light clothes during the dry season especially clothes made from Ankara fabric. I am always comfortable in them and tend to break sweat less often. When indoors during the dry season, I sometimes don't have any top on just shorts.

---

Which season's fruit do you like and why?

---

Due to the fact that the two seasons we have here in Nigeria spans a lot of months, a lot of fruits are always available in both seasons. So to answer this question, I'd just go with my favourite fruit, Oranges. I love me some oranges.

Oranges in Nigeria is an all-season fruit. Nevertheless, it still has its own season when it needs to be planted. This is at the start of the rainy season, around mid to late March.

Source

---

Reasons why I like oranges

As it is with many fruits, oranges have a lot of health and nutritional benefits some of which are:
📌 Oranges are excellent source of Vitamin C.

📌 Oranges helps fight against viral infections.

📌 Oranges are very good for the heart, it boosts heart health.

📌 Oranges helps reduce/lower cholesterol level

📌 Oranges helps with constipation as well.

---

Apart from you, which season do the people of your area prefer?

---

Dry Season, I would say. People in my area prefers the dry season and this is because the roads linking different parts in my area are untiled and rough. During the dry season, the roads are usually very solid and smooth to some extent, hence motorable. During raining season on the other hand, the roads become muddy with many deep pot holes which are almost always water logged making the road very difficult for both vehicle and pedestrian users. This is the major reason why I would say people in my area prefer the dry season to the rainy season.

---

In which season does your area face more difficulties and what are those difficulties?

---

Definitely the raining season, because of the reasons I just mentioned above.

---

What is the special ritual associated with a particular season that people in your area have been waiting for all year?

Just like with almost every area or community across the country, the residents of my area are made up of Muslims and Christians. So, I would say for we the Muslims, we always anticipate the Eid-ul-Fitr festival just after the Holy month of Ramadan as well as the Eid-al-Adha festival, both occur during the raining season. While for the Christians, they anticipate Christmas festival all year long until its finally celebrated in December in the Dry season.

Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this one.

I would like to invite my friends, @ojerindejoel, @kennydavebobo, @olawole111, @patjewell to take part in this interesting contest as well.