Weather forecasters and climate scientists use an old adage to make the distinction between the two: "climate is what you expect; weather is what you get." So, while you can expect snow at Christmas in cold climates, you may not actually have snow on any specific day. Climate describes the longer-term average conditions whereas weather refers to more current atmospheric conditions. Day-to-day weather is determined by measurable factors such as temperature, wind, sunshine, rainfall, snowfall and cloud cover while climate "is most commonly thought of as the average value of these factors," according to The Pacific Fisheries Environmental Laboratory.
The climate determines a region's topography. It's the reason one area is dry, another is tropical and yet another is home to a certain type of wildlife. It's the long-term weather patterns of a particular area, and it refers to the condition of the atmosphere near Earth's surface in that particular place. The world's climates are generally ordered under the Koppen Climate Classification System, established in 1900 by a Russian-German climatologist. Koppen divided the world into surface areas defined by their characteristic vegetation and soil patterns. He identified five main climate types that each has its own typical temperature and average monthly precipitation. These were classified as A -- moist tropical, B -- dry, C -- humid middle latitudes, D -- continental climates and E -- cold climates.
Another factor that determines a region's topography is its animal life. Deserts, for example, with their extreme temperatures, are inhabited only by animals that can survive the shortage of food and lack of water. These include many nocturnal animals who cope by burrowing to avoid the daytime heat. They get all the water they need from their food and tend to be small in size. Animals that live in the Mojave Desert include coyote, desert tortoise and jack rabbit. The wet, warm climate of tropical rain forests is much more hospitable to animal life and again determines its topographical nature. Vital to Earth's ecology, rain forests are close to the equator and home to millions of life forms, including amphibians, insects, fish, birds and mammals.
The plant life of a particular area is another topographically defining factor. Only certain types of vegetation are found in specific biomes and determine its culture. Whereas grasslands are dry, barren environments with few trees or shrubs, coral reefs are brimming with life. Found in warm, shallow waters near tropical land, coral reefs are home to hundreds of species of sea grasses, the only flowering plants in the sea.
