From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Climate
means the usual condition of the temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, and other
meteorological
patterns in an area of the Earth's surface for a long time. In simple terms, climate is the average condition for about thirty years. Climate and
weather
are different: weather is the day to day conditions in the atmosphere.
The types of climates are
:
Tropical
,
Desert/dry
,
Temperate
,
Polar
,
Mediterranean
.
- Polar climate
(also called boreal climate), has long, usually very cold winters, and short summers. For example, near the north and south poles.
- Temperate
climates have four
seasons
. Some of the countries which have a temperate climate are: most of the
European
countries.
- Deserts
are very dry. They just have one or two seasons such as:
Saudi Arabia
and many
African
countries.
- Tropical climates
have warm temperature and only two seasons; wet and dry. An example of a place with a tropical climate is the
Amazon Rainforest
in
Brazil
.
- The
Mediterranean climate
is usually hot and dry in summer, and is cool and wet in winter. An example of a country with a Mediterranean climate is
Spain
.
The
latitude
, ground, and
height
can change the climate of a location. It is also important to note if oceans or other large bodies of water are nearby. Climates are most commonly classified by
temperature
and
precipitation
. The most commonly used classification was the
Koppen climate classification
, first made by Wladimir Koppen. The Thornthwaite system,
[1]
which was used from 1948, not only uses temperature and precipitation information, but
evapotranspiration
too. This makes it useful for studying how many different
kinds of animal species
there are, and about the things that could happen when climates change. The Bergeron and
Spatial Synoptic Classification systems
focus more on where the
air masses
which help make climates come from.
Climates can change
after a long time. Nowadays
people are making the world warmer
in many places, but not in all: 12/2023 "Beijing shivers through coldest December on record" (BBC). North Korea and Japan are also unusually cold, Decenber 2023.
- ↑
C. W. Thornthwaite, "An Approach Toward a Rational Classification of Climate",
Geographical Review
, 38:55-94, 1948