Climate: what it is, types of climates and characteristics

We explain what climate is and what its characteristics and types are. We also explain the elements that make it up and the factors that determine it.

Climatology studies the climates at different times and places on Earth.

What is climate?

Climate is the set of average atmospheric conditions that occur in a geographic area during a certain period of time.. These are atmospheric patterns and trends that occur in relation to temperature, pressure, winds, rain, cloudiness and humidity.

The climate of a place is affected and modified by factors specific to each region, such as altitude, latitude, distance from the sea, the layout of the relief and sea currents.

Climatology is a branch of meteorology that studies the climate over time in different regions of planet Earth. There is also paleoclimatology, which studies the behavior of the climate in the past, when there were no systematic meteorological records. The climate of the past can be reconstructed up to 600,000 years ago.

There are many different types of climates. Different classifications are used to organize and study them. One of the most used is the Köppen climate classification.which establishes the presence of five major climates and a multiplicity of subclimates.

Climate or weather? It is important not to confuse the concepts of climate and weather. While weather studies the instantaneous state of the atmosphere at a given moment (hence the term “weather forecast”), climate is the succession of types of meteorological weather that dominate a place over a long period of time. According to the definition of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the period that must be considered to establish the climate of a place is 30 years. Weather and climate, consequently, observe and describe the same factors, but with different time scales.

Elements of climate

Humidity is water vapor in the air that comes from evaporation from seas and oceans.

The main elements that make up the climate are:

• TemperatureIt is the amount of heat in a certain place. It can be measured with three types of scales that are used in different places around the world: Celsius (ºC), Kelvin (K) or Fahrenheit (ºF).
• Humidity. It is the amount of water vapor in the air, which comes from the evaporation of the planet’s water masses, such as seas and oceans. The amount of water vapor that air can contain varies depending on atmospheric conditions. When the atmosphere can no longer hold any more vapor, the relative humidity reaches 100%, and the chances of rainfall increase considerably.
• Atmospheric pressureIt is the weight exerted by atmospheric air on the Earth’s surface. Its intensity depends on altitude and temperature. A barometer is used to measure pressure, which has a measurement scale in millibars or hectopascals.
• WindIt is air in motion. It is conditioned by variations in atmospheric pressure and changes in temperature.
• PrecipitationIt is the water that is suspended in the atmosphere in the form of vapor and then condenses and falls to the Earth’s surface in the form of rain, snow or hail.
• Cloudiness. It is the formation of clouds due to the presence of humidity in the atmosphere. There are three main types of clouds: cumulus, which form at high altitudes and are usually an indicator of bad weather; stratus, which are elongated and high clouds; and cirrus, which are white clouds with a fibrous or “cottony” appearance.

Climatic factors

The main factors that determine the climate are:

• Latitude. As the distance from the equator and the latitude increase, the temperature tends to decrease. The polar zones, those furthest from the equator, have the coldest climates.
• Altitude. As altitude increases, the temperature tends to decrease progressively. In turn, atmospheric pressure and the availability of air in the atmosphere also decrease with height.
• Distance to the sea. As the distance to the sea or large bodies of water increases, the thermal amplitude increases. This means that the difference between the minimum and maximum temperature of a place is greater.
• Pressure centers. Places where the atmosphere has higher atmospheric pressure usually have lower temperatures. On the contrary, places with lower atmospheric pressure tend to be warmer.
• Ocean currents. Marine currents have the ability to significantly modify continental climate conditions. These currents can be cold or warm and can generate increases or decreases in both temperatures and rainfall in coastal and continental areas.

Types of weather

The Köppen climate classification is one of the most used systems to classify different types of climate around the world. It was developed by the German climatologist Wladimir Köppen. in the early 20th century and has been widely adopted due to its simplicity and ability to represent climate variability across different regions.

Köppen It establishes five major climates to which it assigns a capital letter from A to E. Then, each climate has subtypes of climates to which it assigns lowercase letters that refer to the temperature variations and the seasonality of the rains.

The five climate types and their subtypes according to the Köppen climate classification are:

• Tropical climateIt is a type of climate characterized by warm temperatures above 18 °C throughout the year and abundant rainfall, with values ​​between 800 and more than 2500 millimeters per year. It has three subtypes: equatorial tropical, monsoon tropical and savannah tropical.
• Dry or arid climateIt is a type of climate characterized by its low rainfall throughout the year. It has four subtypes: warm semi-arid arid, temperate-cold semi-arid arid, warm arid and temperate-cold arid.
• Mild weather. It is a type of climate that presents average monthly temperatures above 22°C in the warmest months and above 0°C in the coldest months. The average annual rainfall is between 600 mm and 2000 mm. It has three subtypes: temperate without a dry season, temperate with a dry season in summer (Mediterranean climate) and temperate with a dry season in winter (monsoon climate).
• Continental weather. It is a type of climate that is far from the oceans. It presents important daily and annual thermal amplitudes, with warm summers and very cold winters. Its rainfall is scarce. It presents a great variety of subtypes depending on temperature and precipitation regime. These subtypes can be grouped into: continental without dry season, with dry summer, with dry winter, with warm summer, with cool summer and with very cold winter.
• Polar climate. It is a type of climate characterized by the fact that the average temperature of the warmest month does not exceed 10 °C. It is found mainly in polar latitudes and high altitude areas. It has three subtypes: polar tundra, polar glacial and polar snow.

In turn, each of these five types of climate has several subtypes:

Climate typeSubtypesTropical (A)• Equatorial
• Monsoon
• SavannahDry (B)• Warm semiarid
• Temperate-cold semiarid
• Warm arid
• Temperate-cold aridTemperate (C)• No dry season
• With dry summer (Mediterranean)
• With dry winter (Monsoon)Continental (D)• Without dry season
• With dry summer
• With dry winter
• With warm summer
• With cool summer
• With very cold winterPolar (E)• Tundra
• Glacial
• Nival

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References

• Goudie, A (1993). The Nature of the Environment. Oxford.
• Terrasa, D. (2018). Köppen climate classification. LaGuia2000
• Nuñez, S. (2020). Climate elements and factors. EcologyGreen