The weather, over the long run.
Deserts and rainforests, polar ice and monsoon rains, ice ages and a warming world, for families, classrooms and anyone who has ever wondered why it rains so much where they live. Every fact here links to its source. Warm up with the game: can you name the climate topic from one clue?
Which climate?
8 clues. Pick the topic each one describes.
Press start for your first clue.
Ten climate topics
- Climate zones
- Climate change
- Deserts
- Rainforests
- Polar climates
- Monsoons
- Ice ages
- Seasons
- El Niño
- Clouds
Each clue in the game is one of the facts in the climate file. After you pick, the full fact and its source appear. The drawing, from polar ice to rainforest, is our own.
What is climates.im?
climates.im is a small hub for the world’s climates: the long-run patterns behind the day-to-day weather. Each topic will get its own site with sourced facts, maps, games and printables. Some true things to start with:
Weather or climate?
Weather is the state of the air at one place over a short time. Climate is the average over a long period, 30 years or more, for a larger area. [source]
Thirty years
A region’s climate is usually worked out over a period of 30 years. [source]
Five letters
The Köppen system, one of the most widely used, sorts the world’s climates into five groups: tropical (A), dry (B), temperate (C), continental (D) and polar (E). [source]
The coldest reading
The world’s lowest recorded temperature, −89.2 °C, was measured at Vostok Station in Antarctica on 21 July 1983. [source]
Coming soon
Ten climate sites are planned. The two marked “First wave” come first.
- Climate zonesFirst wave
zones.climates.imPlanned: the world’s climate zones, the Köppen letters A to E, and why the same latitude can feel so different.
Coming soon - Climate changeFirst wave
climate-change.climates.imPlanned: how and why Earth’s climate is changing, what the measurements show, and what the 1.5 °C goal means.
Coming soon - Deserts
deserts.climates.imPlanned: hot and cold deserts, from the Sahara to the Atacama, and how plants and animals live with so little rain.
Coming soon - Rainforests
rainforests.climates.imPlanned: the wet, warm tropical rainforests of the Amazon, Africa and Southeast Asia, layer by layer.
Coming soon - Polar climates
polar.climates.imPlanned: Antarctica, the Arctic and the treeless tundra, the coldest and some of the driest places on Earth.
Coming soon - Monsoons
monsoons.climates.imPlanned: the winds that change direction with the seasons, and the summer rains they bring to South Asia and beyond.
Coming soon - Ice ages
ice-ages.climates.imPlanned: the great ice sheets of the past, the last glacial maximum and the Little Ice Age.
Coming soon - Seasons
seasons.climates.imPlanned: why we have seasons, solstices and equinoxes, and why it isn’t about how close Earth is to the Sun.
Coming soon - El Niño
el-nino.climates.imPlanned: El Niño and La Niña, the warm and cool swings of the Pacific Ocean, and how they reach weather around the world.
Coming soon - Clouds
clouds.climates.imPlanned: how clouds form, the high, middle and low families, and how to name the clouds over your own house.
Coming soon
Sister hubs
climates.im is part of the same REALLYBYTE family as these hubs:
Enjoyed the climates?
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