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Climate
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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
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
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
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Climate

meteorology
Written by
Hubert Horace Lamb
Former Director, Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England. Investigator of climatic variation from the viewpoint of general atmospheric circulation....
Hubert Horace LambAll
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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Climate, conditions of the atmosphere at a particular location over a long period of time; it is the long-term summation of the atmospheric elements (and their variations) that, over short time periods, constitute weather. These elements are solar radiation, temperature, humidity, precipitation (type, frequency, and amount), atmospheric pressure, and wind (speed and direction).

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.
What's the Difference Between Weather and Climate?Even in our warming world, there will be some chilly evenings.
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From the ancient Greek origins of the word (klíma, “an inclination or slope”—e.g., of the Sun’s rays; a latitude zone of Earth; a clime) and from its earliest usage in English, climate has been understood to mean the atmospheric conditions that prevail in a given region or zone. In the older form, clime, it was sometimes taken to include all aspects of the environment, including the natural vegetation. The best modern definitions of climate regard it as constituting the total experience of weather and atmospheric behaviour over a number of years in a given region. Climate is not just the “average weather” (an obsolete, and always inadequate, definition). It should include not only the average values of the climatic elements that prevail at different times but also their extreme ranges and variability and the frequency of various occurrences. Just as one year differs from another, decades and centuries are found to differ from one another by a smaller, but sometimes significant, amount. Climate is therefore time-dependent, and climatic values or indexes should not be quoted without specifying what years they refer to.

This article treats the factors that produce weather and climate and the complex processes that cause variations in both. Other major points of coverage include global climatic types and microclimates. The article also considers both the impact of climate on human life and the effects of human activities on climate. For details concerning the disciplines of meteorology and climatology, see climatic variation and change. See also the article atmosphere for further information about the properties and behaviour of the atmospheric system. Relevant data on the influence of the oceans and of atmospheric moisture on climate can be found in hydrosphere.