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CLIMATOLOGY
INTRODUCTION TO CLIMATOLOGY
Introduction to
Climatology
Climatology is the science that seeks to
describe and explain the nature of climate,
why it differs from place to place, and how it
is related to other elements of the natural
environment and to human activities.
The term comes from the Greek words,
klima, referring to the supposed slope of
the earth and approximating our concept of
latitude, and logos, a discourse or study.
Introduction to
Climatology
Weather
The state of the atmosphere; mainly with
respect to its effects upon human activities.
Short term variability of the atmosphere (time
scales of minutes to months).
Popularly thought of in terms of: temperature,
wind, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness,
brightness, and visibility.
A category of individual/combined atmospheric
phenomena which describe the conditions at
the time of an observation.
Climate
Long term statistical description of the
atmospheric conditions, averaged over a
specified period of time - usually decades.
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Agriculture
Timing of planting,
harvesting, etc to avoid
bad weather, hazards to
livestock
Shipping, aviation, road
gritting, flood warnings,
Commerce
Should a supermarket
order BBQs and
icecream, or umbrellas?
Social and economic impacts are great but are usually localized
Climatic Controls
The world's many
climates are
controlled by the
same factors
affecting weather,
a) intensity of
sunshine and its
variation with
latitude,
b) distribution of land
and water,
c) ocean temperature
and currents,
d) mountain barriers,
e) land cover,
f) atmospheric
composition.
This map shows sea-level temperatures (F).
and
temporal
Regional Climatology
Regional climatology has its goal in the
orderly arrangement and explanation of
spatial
patterns.
It
includes
the
identification
of
significant
climate
characteristics and the classification of
climate types, thus providing a link
between the physical bases of climate and
the investigation of problems in applied
climatology.
Scales of Climate
Microclimate the climate of a site (e.g. a climate
station)
Topoclimate the climate of a locality (e.g. a valley or
hillside)
Mesoclimate the climate of a region (e.g. Brong Ahafo
Region of Ghana)
Synoptic Climate the climate of a large area (e.g. a
continent)
Global Climate the climate of the planet