What is climate? Simply explained

What climate is can be explained most clearly if you know the difference between weather and weather conditions. Various factors play a role in determining climate.

What is climate? Here’s what you need to know

To understand what climate is, you need to know the differences between weather, weather conditions and climate.

• The term weather always refers to the state of the atmosphere at a particular place and time period. This period can extend over several hours, but also over several days.

• Weather is measured by various aspects, for example air pressure, wind speed, clouds or precipitation, in weather stations.

• Weather, in turn, describes the course of the weather over several days or weeks.

• In contrast, climate at a location or in an area explores the average state of the atmosphere over a significantly longer period of time. The World Meteorological Organisation recommends a period of about thirty years.

• Frequencies, persistent situations and also extreme situations play a role in determining the climate in a place.

• Climate can be divided into three areas: According to the macroclimate,or large-scale climate, the earth is divided into climate regions. The mesoclimate, also called regional or local climate, describes the climate in an area or in a smaller place. The microclimate describes the climate in layers near the ground.

• It is particularly important that the determination and description of climate extends over a much longer period of time than the determination and description of weather and weather conditions. Also, climate is often determined over a much larger area than weather and weather.