Meteorologists take careful measurements of daily minimum temperatures, maximum temperatures, and precipitation (rainfall). The temperature and precipitation for Edinburgh, Scotland in 2016 is recorded and graphed in the figure below. For each month, the daily temperature results are averaged and the daily precipitation is summed (see Figure 1 below).

Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between rainfall and temperature?

Question 3 options:

Months with higher temperatures have more rainfall

Months with higher temperatures have less rainfall

Month with lower temperatures have less rainfall

Temperature has no clear relationship to rainfall

Months with higher temperature have more rainfall.

Explanation:

From the presented graph, we can see that all three parameters are following a same trend. When the maximum temperatures increase, the minimum temperatures increase too, and the rainfall increases as well. When the maximum temperatures decrease, the minimum temperatures decrease, and the rainfall decreases too.

There is a simple explanation for the connection of higher temperature and more rainfall in Scotland. Scotland is located on an island, thus it is heavily influenced by the sea. When the temperature is higher, the humidity is higher, and in accordance to that more rainfall occurs. When the temperature is lower, the humidity is lower, so there is less rainfall, or instead of rainfall the precipitation can be manifested as snowfall.