Climate

Climate etymologically denotes a slope, and was formerly used to denote the imaginary zones into which the earth's surface was divided, not, as now, according to temperature, but according to the change of time. It is now used somewhat loosely to denote the complication of conditions of temperature, rainfall, exposure to or protection from winds, height above sea-level, and so forth, that tend to make a region favourable or otherwise to human life or happiness. There are people who would call the climate of England temperate and good. The word seems properly to denote the permanent and generally prevailing conditions as distinguished from varying details. The weather may change from day to day, but the climate only changes gradually and, for the most part, imperceptibly.