Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
climate
Table of Contents
References & Edit History Related Topics
Images & Videos
What's the difference between weather and climate?
See how differing amounts of solar radiation at the poles and Equator affect Earth's climate and atmosphere
season Average exchange of energy between the surface, the atmosphere, and space, as percentages of incident solar radiation (1 unit = 3.4 watts per square metre). major surface currents of the oceans Global distribution of mean annual evaporation (in centimetres). diagram of the hydrologic cycle of water
Follow water in its many forms, from glaciers and clouds to freshwater rivers and saltwater oceans
See how water transforms between liquid, ice, and vapour in the water cycle
cloud types
For Students
climate summary
Quizzes
Lightning over a farm field. Weather electricity thunderstorm light energy tree
Facts You Should Know: Weather Quiz
rain. Child in the rain, wearing a rain coat, under a yellow umbrella. April Showers weather climate rain storm water drops
April Showers to March’s Lions and Lambs
Iceland, Glacier lagoon (Jokulsarlon)
Winter Weather Words Quiz
Related Questions
Read Next
High-oblique view of the extra-tropical unnamed cyclone that merged with Hurricane Earl is featured in this image taken by an Expedition 24 crew member on the International Space Station (Sept. 2010).
Is the Number of Hurricanes Increasing?
Brown layer of Los Angeles smog; photo taken on November 10, 2016.(California, environment, smog)
What's the Difference Between Global Warming and Climate Change?
Average temperature in the United States during August 2016, weather
What’s the Difference Between Weather and Climate?
Polar bear leaping among ice floes at Spitsbergen, Svalbard archipelago, Norway, the Arctic. Sea ice climate change mammal jump global warming
A Recent History of Climate Change
A timeline of important 20th- and 21st-century carbon emission/science dates. climate change, infographic. SPOTLIGHT VERSION
Timeline of Climate Change
Discover
Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics
10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)
11 Banned Books Through Time
An ancient egyptian hieroglyphic painted carving showing the falcon headed god Horus seated on a throne and holding a golden fly whisk. Before him are the Pharoah Seti and the goddess Isis. Interior wall of the temple to Osiris at Abydos, Egypt.
11 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”
Title: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, December 14, 1825: repression of the troop mutiny - watercolor by Carl Ivanovitch Kollman, 1825 depicts Decembrist uprising clashing with cavalry, with spectators watching. (new style December 26, 1825) Europe. Saint
8 of the Largest Empires in History
Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1855), founder of the house of Rothschild; lithograph by Friedrich Lieder, c. 1830.
Where Do Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories About the Rothschild Family Come From?
Thanksgiving Turkey with all the sides
Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?

climate: Media

meteorology
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/science/climate-meteorology/images-videos

Videos

What's the difference between weather and climate?
Even in our warming world, there will be some chilly evenings.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
See how differing amounts of solar radiation at the poles and Equator affect Earth's climate and atmosphere
Differences in the amount of solar radiation available to the poles and the Equator...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Follow water in its many forms, from glaciers and clouds to freshwater rivers and saltwater oceans
Learn about the essential aspects of the hydrologic cycle.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
See how water transforms between liquid, ice, and vapour in the water cycle
The formation of clouds and rain.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Examine how rapid warm-air updrafts form cumulonimbus thunderclouds that produce heavy rains and lightning
A thunderstorm typically forms when there is a rapid updraft of warm air in a cumulonimbus...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Why does snow crunch underfoot?
Learn why snow makes a crunching sound when underfoot.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
How do snowflakes form?
Learn how snowflakes, also called snow crystals, form.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Witness crop destruction by hail and examine a hailstone's interior under polarized light
Hailstorm sequence, crop damage, and how hail is collected and studied.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Explore how interactions between the water cycle and landforms affect climate and weather
Learn about how interactions between the water cycle and landforms, as in orographic...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Watch a desert thunderstorm and resulting flash flood scour the sandy soil and terrain
A desert thunderstorm produces a flash flood that sweeps down canyons.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Understand the carbon and oxygen cycles in the atmosphere
Living organisms influence the cycling of carbon and oxygen through the environment.
Video: Created and produced by QA International. © QA International, 2010. All rights reserved. www.qa-international.com
Learn how pollution from industrial emissions and car exhaust is trapped against mountains to cause smog
Smog formation and entrapment over Los Angeles.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Learn how mountains, bodies of water, and human habitation affect atmospheric activity
Learn about factors affecting the localized movement of air.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
How does desert dust from the Sahara affect global climate?
Overview of desert sand's effects on the climate, with particular focus on the Sahara.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Rapid Response Team/NASA GSFC

Images

season
A diagram shows the position of Earth at the beginning of each season in the Northern...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Average exchange of energy between the surface, the atmosphere, and space, as percentages...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
major surface currents of the oceans
Major surface currents of the world's oceans. Subsurface currents also move vast...
© Merriam-Webster Inc.
Global distribution of mean annual evaporation (in centimetres).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
diagram of the hydrologic cycle of water
In the hydrologic cycle, water is transferred between the land surface, the ocean,...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
cloud types
Different types of clouds form at different heights.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
cirrus fibratus clouds
Cirrus fibratus are high clouds that are nearly straight or irregularly curved. They...
Nick Impenna/Photo Researchers
Altocumulus undulatus, a cloud layer of shaded, regularly arranged rolls.
Richard Jepperson/Photo Researchers
orographic lift
Condensation, precipitation, and the rain shadow effect resulting from orographic...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
thunderstorm: structure
When the atmosphere becomes unstable enough to form large powerful updrafts and downdrafts...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
rain shaft
A rain shaft piercing a tropical sunset as seen from Man-o'-War Bay, Tobago, Caribbean...
NOAA
Colorado's fine, light snow attracts millions of skiers every year.
© DOUGBERRY/iStock.com
frozen precipitation
Classification of frozen precipitation.
Vincent J. Schaefer
Global distribution of mean annual rainfall (in centimetres).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
world patterns of thunderstorm frequency
Thunderstorms occur most often in the tropical latitudes over land, where the air...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
January average atmospheric temperature
Map of global mean air pressure at sea level in January, where high-pressure centers...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
average atmospheric pressure at sea level
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
World distribution of mean sea-level pressure (in millibars) for January and primary...
From H.L. Crutcher and O.M. Davis, Navy Marine Climatic Atlas of the World, vol.8, NAVAIR 50-1C-54; U.S. Naval Weather Service Command
World distribution of mean sea-level pressure (in millibars) for July and primary...
From H.L. Crutcher and O.M. Davis, Navy Marine Climatic Atlas of the World, vol.8, NAVAIR 50-1C-54; U.S. Naval Weather Service Command
A top view and vertical cross section of a tropical cyclone.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
cyclogenesis
Cyclogenesis: evolution of a wave (frontal) cyclone.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Cross section of clouds and precipitation often found along the cross-sectional line...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Satellite image of a large dust storm in the Takla Makan Desert, northwestern China.
MODIS Rapid Response Team/NASA/GFSC
Typical sea-breeze (afternoon) and land-breeze (night) circulations with associated...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
When the valley floor warms during the day, warm air rises up the slopes of surrounding...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
atmospheric circulation
General patterns of atmospheric circulation over an idealized Earth with a uniform...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Positions of jet streams in the atmosphere. Arrows indicate directions of mean motions...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
monsoon
Monsoon storm, Apache Junction, Ariz.
© Corbis
Graph depicting the influence of El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on rainfall...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Graph of monsoon rainfall in India, 1871–1981. Annual rainfall amounts are depicted...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Rossby wave patterns over the North Pole depicting the formation of an outbreak of...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
A weather balloon being released at a weather station at the South Pole. Balloon-borne...
NOAA
Vertical cross sections through a wave system depicting typical divergence and convergence...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Meridional cross section of the atmosphere to a height of 60 km (37 miles) in Earth's...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Hurricane Isabel
Hurricane Isabel over the Atlantic Ocean, photographed from the International Space...
Astronaut Ed Lu/Image courtesy of Mike Trenchard, Earth Sciences & Image Analysis Laboratory/Johnson Space Center/NASA
major currents, North Atlantic Ocean
Major warm and cold currents of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Earth
The planet Earth.
NASA
Earth's early and modern atmospheres compared
Comparison of Earth's prebiotic and modern atmospheres. Before life began on the...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
greenhouse effect on Earth
The greenhouse effect on Earth. Some incoming sunlight is reflected by Earth's atmosphere...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The carbon cycle is the complex path that carbon follows through the atmosphere,...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
photosynthesis
Green plants such as trees use carbon dioxide, sunlight, and water to create sugars....
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
nitrogen cycle
The nitrogen cycle transforms diatomic nitrogen gas into ammonium, nitrate, and nitrite...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Dew often forms on grass during cool nights.
© AKphotopro/Shutterstock.com
lilac bud break, humidity, and temperature
Graph of atmospheric vapour pressure and expected minimum temperature for 56 days...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
deforestation
Smoldering remains of a plot of deforested land in the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil.
© Brasil2/iStock.com
Sahel
Sahelian landscape near Zinder, Niger.
A.G.E. FotoStock
Kyoto Protocol
Delegates at the opening session of the conference in Kyōto, Japan, that led to the...
Katsumi Kasahara/AP Images
Figure 17: Changes in the global mean temperature expected due to past and anticipated...
From Atmospheric Ozone 1985, World Meteorological Organization, Report No. 16, (1986), by courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
climate modeling
To understand and explain the complex behaviour of Earth's climate, modern climate...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
soil erosion
Effect of topography and climate on water-induced soil erosion. On shallow slopes...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
climate and soil
The effects of climate on soil worldwide. A schematic cross section of Earth illustrates...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
VIEW MORE in these related Britannica articles: