| A | B |
|---|
| Climatology | th study of Earth's climates and the factors that affect climates |
| Climate | long-term weather |
| Normals | the normal, or standard climatic values for a location |
| Tropics | area near the equators that receive direct sunlight year-round |
| Temperate Zones | climatic region where temperatures and climates are moderate year-round. These regions see little "extremes" in weather |
| Polar Zones | located enar north and south poles - receive indirect sunlight year-round, and are thus very cold |
| Koeppen Classification System | a system used to classify climate regions |
| microclimate | a localized climate that differs from the surrounding climates. Examples are heat islands and on top of a mountain |
| Heat island | hot microclimates created by cities containing concrete, steel buildings and asphalt that radiate heat |
| ice ages | periods of extensive glacial coverage |
| seasons | short term periods of climate change that follow predictable patterns. These are caused by Earth's tilt |
| El Nino | A short term climatic effect wherein the water off of the western coast of South America becomes unusually warm. This results in weather patterns being "opposite" of what they usually are for a region. Ex. The desert will see a lot of rain during an El Nino event |
| Maunder Minimum | a period of low sunspot activity - results in a short Ice Age |
| Greenhouse Effect | the warming of Earth caused by the release of greenhouse Gases (Carbon Dioxide, Methane, etc...) |
| Global Warming | the overall warming of Earth's surface. Often caused by the Greenhouse Effect. |
