weather is the condition of the atmosphere at any given time and place temperature air pressure precipitation and moisture in the air are among the conditions that affect weather.Wheather can change from hour to hour day to day or week to week
Climate on the other hand is the average of weather conditions in a region over a long period of time Unlike weather climates change very slowly over many years Earth has three major climate zones climates vary because of the angle at which the sun's rays strike each zone the angle of the sun's rays varies because earth is sphere with a curved surface
The tropical zones lie between Earth's equator and 23.5 north and south latitudes The sun rays strike the tropical zones perpendicular or at right angles to earths surface these rays transfer the most heat energy to earth which makes the tropics very warm year round temperatures in these climate zones rarely fall below 18 C and the tropics experience only two seasons dary and rainy
some regions in tropical climate zones have wet climates The average rainfall in these regions ranges from about 175 to 250 cm per year other regions in the tropics are generally wet
Much of central America and much of northern edge of Australia have tropical calimates too
Earth's temperature zones lie between 23.5 and 66.5 north and south latitudes in temperate climate regions the sun's rays strike earth's surface at a lower angle than they do in tropics This makes temperatures in the temperate climate zones milder than they are in the tropics
unlike the tropics temperate climate zones experience four distinct seasons with different types of weather winters in the temperate zones are generally cols and snowy summers can be hot and humid or hot and dry fall and spring in temperate climate zones have fairly mils temperatures areas with temperate climates can get rain at any time of years Much of the united states experiences temperate climates temperate climates are also found in much of Europe
Polar zones are climate zones that lie between 66.5 north or south latitude and the nearest pole These climate regions are always cold because the sun's rays strike these parts of our planet at very low angles This together with the reflection of much of the sun's energy by ice and snow causes much of the heat to be lost to the atmosphere
Some areas in the polar climate zones have short summers that are much cooler than summers in other climate regions all polar regions experience long cold winters In some areas snow begins to fall in sutumn and can remain on the ground until summer in other regions snow falls all year and temperatures rarely go above freezing or 0 C
Much of Alaska has a polar climate Polar climate also are found throughout northern Canada and Russia Greenland and antartica which are covered in snow and ice year round have polar climates
Within each of earth's major climate zones are smaller regions called microclimates A microclimate is the climates of a small region A garden for example can have a microclimate A large city because of all of its concrete can also have its own climate. Microclimates often exist only for short periods of time.
Whithin each of Earth's major