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“Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.”
Mark Twain
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Climate encompasses the statistics
of temperature,
humidity,
atmospheric pressure,
wind,
precipitation,
atmospheric particle count and other meteorological
elemental measurements in a given region over long
periods. Climate can be contrasted to weather,
which is the present condition of these elements and
their variations over shorter periods. A region's
climate is generated by the climate system, which has
five components: atmosphere,
hydrosphere,
cryosphere,
land surface, and biosphere.
The climate of a location is affected by its latitude,
terrain,
and altitude,
as well as nearby water bodies and their currents.
Climates can be classified
according to the average and the typical ranges of
different variables, most commonly temperature and
precipitation. The most commonly used classification
scheme was originally developed by Wladimir Köppen.
The Thornthwaite system, in use since 1948, incorporates
evapotranspiration
along with temperature and precipitation information and
is used in studying animal species diversity and
potential effects of climate changes. The Bergeron and
Spatial Synoptic Classification
systems focus on the
origin of air masses that define the climate of a
region.." Source:
Wikipedia Portland, Oregon, where it rarely snows,
is about 130 miles farther north than Toronto, and
over 200 miles farther north than Boston Source:
20 world geography facts that might surprise you
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