Weather and Climate

Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a particular point at a specific time which can be described in terms of:

• Temperature
• Precipitation
• Wind speed and direction
• Cloud type and cover
• Humidity
• Visibility

Climate are the average atmospheric conditions of an area measured over a substantial period of time (usually 30 years). This is mainly based on temperature and precipitation.

Koppen classification

There are six broad categories which are:

• Tropical moist climates- all months have an average temperatures above 18 Celsius.
• Dry climates- with deficient precipitation during most of the year.
• Moist mid-latitude- Climates with mild winters (Temperate).
• Moist mid-latitude- Climates with cold winters (continental).
• Polar climates- extremely cold winters and summers.
• Mountain  climates- This category was added later.

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm

Scientists have to look at how the atmosphere interacts with the oceans, ice sheets, land masses and vegetation. These different interactions create a climate system and these interactions as well as the composition of the atmosphere itself make a very complex system. The sun also drives our climate. Sunlight provides energy which heats the Earth.Without the Earth's atmosphere and certain gases our climate would be very different to what it is now. The atmosphere stops the heat from escaping into space. If it didn't do this our planet would be a very cold place indeed. Certain gases allow the suns energy through but stop it from escaping back into space, acting like a green house. To learn more about the greenhouse effect please read another blog post of mine called 'Blanket Earth'.