Climate

Climate is the weather at a given place over a period of time. Or other words, climate is the average weather of a place. It involves averages, totals, and extremes to set a picture of the weather pattern. Climate is affected by the same physical conditions that affect weather: latitude, prevailing winds, ocean currents, mountains, nearness to the sea, and altitude.

Everybody knows that there are many factors that affect climate. The most important factors are temperature and rainfall. So on one hand climate is classified by a combination of temperatures and it may be: torrid, temperate or frigid. On the other hand it is classified by the rainfall and it may be: wet, humid, sub-humid, semi-arid, and arid.

The world has a number of climate regions: arctic and sub-arctic, temperate, torrid and sub-torrid, equatorial and subequatorial.

Climate depends on latitude: the sun’s rays are more intense in the tropics and near the equator and much less intense near the Poles. That is why tropical areas are warmer than regions nearer to the Poles.

Altitude has also an important effect on climate. Temperatures fall by about 6 degrees Celsius (6C⁰) for every 1000 meter of altitude. So, mountains in the tropics can have much cooler climates than surrounding lowlands.

Nearness to the ocean also affects climate, having a generally moderating influence on coastal areas. This is because although ocean water takes longer to heat up than dry land, the ocean retains heat for much longer. Most extreme climates, with very hot summers and very cold winters are found in the hearts of the continents.