Climate: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Oct. 5, 2026

Photos and Videos

Diagram showing Earth's orbit around the Sun with labeled positions for the summer solstice, winter solstice, vernal equinox, and autumnal equinox, illustrating how Earth's tilt causes the seasons.

A flowchart diagram shows the average exchange of energy between Earth's surface, atmosphere, and space as percentages of incoming solar radiation, with arrows and labeled percentages illustrating how solar energy is absorbed, reflected, scattered, or emitted by clouds, the atmosphere, and the surface. Color-coded circles and boxes represent different forms of energy transfer, including solar radiation, longwave radiation, and non-radiative exchanges, highlighting the complexity of Earth's clima

A flowchart diagram shows the average exchange of energy between Earth's surface, atmosphere, and space as percentages of incoming solar radiation, with arrows and labeled percentages illustrating how solar energy is absorbed, reflected, scattered, or emitted by clouds, the atmosphere, and the surface. Color-coded circles and boxes represent different forms of energy transfer, including solar radiation, longwave radiation, and non-radiative exchanges, highlighting the complexity of Earth's clima

major surface currents of the oceans

Global distribution of mean annual evaporation (in centimetres).

Illustrated cross-section of the hydrologic cycle showing land, vegetation, and ocean, with arrows indicating water movement through precipitation, evaporation, runoff, infiltration, groundwater flow, and outflow. Numbers on arrows represent relative water fluxes, highlighting major processes such as precipitation on land and ocean, evaporation from land and ocean, surface runoff, infiltration to groundwater, and groundwater outflow to the ocean. Soil moisture and groundwater zones are color-cod

Illustration showing ten cloud types at different altitudes above the ground: cirrus, cirrocumulus, and cirrostratus at high elevations; altocumulus and altostratus at mid-levels; nimbostratus, stratocumulus, stratus, cumulus, and the towering cumulonimbus clouds at lower to very high elevations, with a plane for scale.

cirrus fibratus clouds

Altocumulus undulatus clouds form parallel, wavy bands across the sky, brightly illuminated in orange and gold by the setting or rising sun above a dark horizon.

Diagram showing orographic lift, where moist air rises up the green, windward side of a mountain, cools and forms clouds with precipitation, while the opposite, brown lee side remains dry in the rain shadow.

World map with continents shaded in colors representing climate zones, from warm reds and yellows near the equator to cool blues and whites at the poles.

See how differing amounts of solar radiation at the poles and Equator affect Earth's climate and atmosphere

Follow water in its many forms, from glaciers and clouds to freshwater rivers and saltwater oceans

See how water transforms between liquid, ice, and vapour in the water cycle

Examine how rapid warm-air updrafts form cumulonimbus thunderclouds that produce heavy rains and lightning

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

genetic method type A climate tierra fria type C climate mesoclimate continental climate temperate climate type E climate Terjung’s Comfort Index Yangtze valley climate plate tectonics Biosphere ecosystem erosion seismic wave Geochemical cycle Geostrophic motion river Equator Why Is Earth’s Axis Tilted?

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

default image

Eduard Brückner

Austrian geographer and climatologist

Abbot, Charles Greeley

Charles Greeley Abbot

American astrophysicist

default image

Frank Hall Knowlton

American paleobotanist

default image

Ellsworth Huntington

American geographer

rain. Child in the rain, wearing a rain coat, under a yellow umbrella. April Showers weather climate rain storm water drops

April Showers to March’s Lions and Lambs

Iceland, Glacier lagoon (Jokulsarlon)

Winter Weather Words Quiz

Lightning over a farm field. Weather electricity thunderstorm light energy tree

Facts You Should Know: Weather Quiz