When two people meet on the street, or in a shop, weather is usually the first topic of conversation. Sometimes, weather is the only thing spoken about! Why is it such a widespread topic, discussed and dissected in every language around the globe from Alaska to Murcia, Spain? The bottom line is that weather affects every living thing, plant and animal, every day and every night. The effects vary, from determining what clothes to wear to the construction of the homes we live in. Consider as well that most of our work and leisure activity is altered, suspended or at least influenced by weather. At a more basic level, weather has shaped the soil of the Earth, significantly affecting the growth of all plant life and animal life. The components of "weather" such as the sun, rain and wind, cause living things to adapt in order to survive the everyday conditions and the extremes of weather in whatever habitat they occupy. Human beings have food to sustain them because of and sometimes in spite of weather conditions. In fact, a great deal of time and money is used to construct an adequate weather forecast, so that that humans can prepare for conditions that will affect agricultural crops. While men and women may not be able to actually "do" something about the weather (at least on a large scale) the study of weather and global climate conditions has allowed scientists and other weather observers to more accurately predict conditions for the near future. This small step can help farmers and other food producers adjust their work to take advantage of "good" weather conditions and avoid damages during "bad" weather conditions. For centuries, only priests, shamans and other spiritually guided individuals engaged in predicting and forecasting weather and human events. Many of the religious practices and rites of today have some base in the efforts at influencing or changing weather. While most of these efforts were unsuccessful, the practices continue to the present. Why are humans so consistently unable to influence the Earth's climate and its regular weather patterns? Why do struggles continue, as men and women try to "do" something about temperature, precipitation and wind? The simplest answer would be that the atmosphere surrounding our planet is massive and complex. But there is more. The natural tendency of any such large system is to maintain equilibrium on its own. Air masses of one temperature move, naturally, toward an area where the temperature is different (warm to cold, cold to warm). These movements are influenced by the larger features of the planet, such as mountains and oceans. The entire atmospheric system operates within the confines of gravity, another force that is difficult for humans to overcome. When considered together, the variations in heating by the sun, the natural movement of large air masses, the effects of natural structures such as mountains, and the forces of gravity make up a system too complex for any one species to influence in a significant way. For the most part, human beings are still observers when it comes to the changing and unpredictable weather.
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