The word "Climate" originally was geographic; it referred to an area of the earth. It is from the late 14th Century, "horizontal zone of the earth," Scottish, from Old French climat "region, part of the earth," from Latin clima (genitive climatis) "region; slope of the Earth," from Greek klima "region, zone," literally "an inclination, slope," thus "slope of the Earth from equator to pole," from root of klinein "to slope, to lean".
The angle of sun on the slope of the Earth's surface defined the zones assigned by early geographers. Early references in English, however, are in astrology works, as each of the seven (then) climates was held to be under the influence of one of the planets.
Shift from "region" to "weather associated with a region" perhaps began in Middle English, certainly by c. 1600. So the different regions have different weather. The climate is actually different from region to region. The current debate (soon to be outlawed) is over the generalized world climate. As such, sampling is challenging as regions are different.
The battle cry of "Climate Change" is peculiar as it has no opponents. It reminds me of the old definition of a sociologist: A man constantly amazed by the obvious. The very nature of the climate is that it changes--from region to region, from time to time, from season to season. When some climate hangs around for a long time it usually gets named, like a Period or an Epoch. The climate is dynamic.
Since Christ there have been three major shifts, the period at the time of Christ, the Medieval Warm Period (end of the 9th century to the 13th) and the Little Ice Age (1640s to 1690s). If the earth is episodically warmer now it would be the third time a definitive temperature increase has occurred since Christ.
It is interesting that the current "change" is seen as ominous, that the present is optimum. Such a view is the hallmark of the conservative.
The angle of sun on the slope of the Earth's surface defined the zones assigned by early geographers. Early references in English, however, are in astrology works, as each of the seven (then) climates was held to be under the influence of one of the planets.
Shift from "region" to "weather associated with a region" perhaps began in Middle English, certainly by c. 1600. So the different regions have different weather. The climate is actually different from region to region. The current debate (soon to be outlawed) is over the generalized world climate. As such, sampling is challenging as regions are different.
The battle cry of "Climate Change" is peculiar as it has no opponents. It reminds me of the old definition of a sociologist: A man constantly amazed by the obvious. The very nature of the climate is that it changes--from region to region, from time to time, from season to season. When some climate hangs around for a long time it usually gets named, like a Period or an Epoch. The climate is dynamic.
Since Christ there have been three major shifts, the period at the time of Christ, the Medieval Warm Period (end of the 9th century to the 13th) and the Little Ice Age (1640s to 1690s). If the earth is episodically warmer now it would be the third time a definitive temperature increase has occurred since Christ.
It is interesting that the current "change" is seen as ominous, that the present is optimum. Such a view is the hallmark of the conservative.
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