[MCN] What is "climate"? "The old geographers reckoned 7 climates."

[Lance Olsen]

Funk & Wagnalls
NEW STANDARD DICTIONARY of the ENGLISH LANGUAGE
1938. By arrangement with Collier, a publisher

"Climate. n. 1. The sum total of the atmospheric 
conditions of a locality, esp. affecting health 
and comfort: the average weather of a place or 
region, as regards temperature, moisture, and 
prevailing winds: as, a hot climate, a rigorous 
climate. 2. A region of the earth, especially one 
considered in relation to its temperature, 
moisture, etc: a clime: as we live in a 
capricious or rigorous climate.  3. [Archaic] In 
early geography, a zone of the earth's surface 
comprised between two specified latitudes: the 
original meaning. The old geographers reckoned 7 
climates; the later ones 24, from the equator to 
either of the polar circles, each representing an 
increase of half hour in the length of the 
longest day. At the present day the earth is 
divided into various irregular regions, each 
differing as to temperature, rainfall, moisture, 
pressure, the inclination of the sun, and the 
amount of cloudiness. "

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"By the end of the 21st century, forest 
ecosystems in the United States will differ from 
those of today as a result of changing climate. 
Š. For example, wildfires, insect infestations, 
pulses of erosion and flooding, and 
drought-induced tree mortality are all expected 
to increase during the 21st century."

Vose, James M.; Peterson, David L.; 
Patel-Weynand, Toral. 2012. Effects of climatic 
variability and change on forest ecosystems: a 
comprehensive science synthesis for the U.S. 
General Technical Report PNW-GTR-870. Portland, 
OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 
Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 265 
p. http://treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/42610
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"Conservationists must therefore assess both 
current and future distributions of species. .... 
One critical question is whether models Š can Š 
provide robust predictions of future 
distributions under climate change."

Miguel B. Araújo and Carsten Rahbek.
"How Does Climate Change Affect Biodiversity?"
Science, Vol. 313, September 8, 2006
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
" Š. the earth's atmosphere is so thoroughly 
mixed and so rapidly recycled through the 
biosphere that the next breath you inhale will 
contain atoms exhaled by Jesus at Gethsemane and 
Adolf Hitler at Munich."

Preston Cloud and Aharon Gibor. "The Oxygen Cycle."
Scientific American, September 1970

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