Climatology is a holistic science that incorporates data, ideas, and theo- ries from all parts of the Earth–ocean–atmosphere system, including those influenced by humans, into an integrated whole to explain atmospheric properties.
The Earth–ocean–atmosphere system may be divided into a number of zones, with each tradi- tionally studied by a separate scientific discipline. The part of the solid Earth nearest to the surface (to a depth of perhaps 100 km) is called the litho- sphere and is studied by geologists, geophysicists, geomorphologists, soil scientists, vulcanologists, and other practitioners of the environmental and agricultural sciences. The part of the system that is covered by liquid water is termed the hydrosphere; it is considered by those in the fields of oceanogra- phy, hydrology, and limnology (the study of lakes). The region comprising frozen water in all its forms (glaciers, sea ice, surface and subsurface ice, and snow) is known as the cryosphere and is studied by