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What is climate?

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Quick answer

Climate is the long-term average pattern of weather in a place, measured over decades — its typical temperature, rainfall, and seasons. While weather changes day to day, climate describes what conditions a region can usually expect. Climate is the average of weather over long periods (usually 30+ years) for a region.

Key things to understand

  1. Climate is the average of weather over long periods (usually 30+ years) for a region.
  2. It covers typical temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind, and seasonal patterns.
  3. It's shaped by latitude, altitude, distance from oceans, and ocean currents.
  4. Earth has many climate zones — tropical, arid, temperate, polar, and more.
  5. Climate change is a long-term shift in these averages, largely driven today by human activity.

People also ask

What's the difference between climate and weather?
Weather is the day-to-day state of the atmosphere; climate is the long-term average over decades. A cold day is weather; a region being cold most of the year is climate.
What determines a place's climate?
Mainly latitude (distance from the equator), altitude, how close it is to oceans, ocean currents, and prevailing winds.
Is climate the same as climate change?
No. Climate is the long-term pattern; climate change is a lasting shift in that pattern — today mainly the warming driven by greenhouse gases from human activity.

Part of the guide: Water & Weather Phenomena →