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Article: Climate
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
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CLIMATE
CLIMATE.
The climate of an area, defined as the aggregate of weather conditions over time, is constructed from monthly, seasonal, and annual averages of weather elements, such as temperature and precipitation, combined with statements about the frequency of extreme events, such as droughts or tornadoes. Historically, climate has had important economic implications for agriculture, transportation, and settlement. Climatology, or the scientific study of climate, dates to the mid-nineteenth century and includes such specialties as applied climatology, climate dynamics, and climate change.
The classical heritage related the climate of an area uniquely to its latitude. Climate, from ...