Climate

The weather is the short term variation in the atmosphere, on the order of a minutes to weeks.  We saw how water as a solid or liquid or gas plays a role in mass and energy movement. We also looked at heat and temperature. Those factors are the dominant influences in climate as well. They are the dominant factors, but depending on what you are doing, you might be more interested in more detailed issues such as soil moisture and soil temperature.

The first classification of global climates was developed by Köppen, a German agronomist. He was interested in the plant types around the world and how they responded to difference temperature and precipitation regimes. He developed the Köppen climate classification scheme in the 1880s. That was a time of regular global transport and colonialism. He had the data to develop the classification because people were regularly traveling across the globe and collecting data. He had the impetus to develop the system because it could be useful for determining which plants could be transferred and grown in different colonies.