Climate

Climate is the statistics (usually, mean or variability) of weather, usually over a 30-year interval. It is measured by assessing the patterns of variation in temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological variables in a given region over long periods of time. Climate differs from weather, in that weather only describes the short-term conditions of these variables in a given region.

A region's climate is generated by the climate system, which has five components: atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere.

The climate of a location is affected by its latitude, terrain, and altitude, as well as nearby water bodies and their currents. Climates can be classified according to the average and the typical ranges of different variables, most commonly temperature and precipitation. The most commonly used classification scheme was Köppen climate classification originally developed by Wladimir Köppen. The Thornthwaite system, in use since 1948, incorporates evapotranspiration along with temperature and precipitation information and is used in studying biological diversity and the potential effects on it of climate changes. The Bergeron and Spatial Synoptic Classification systems focus on the origin of air masses that define the climate of a region.

Climate as complex networks

The field of Complex Networks has emerged as an important area of science to generate novel insights into nature of complex systems. The application of the theory to Climate Science is a young and emerging field. , , , To identify and analyze patterns in global climate, scientists model the climate data as Complex Networks.

Unlike most of the real-world networks in which nodes and edges are well defined, nodes in climate networks are identified with the spatial grid points of underlying global climate data set, which is defined arbitrarily and can be represented at various resolutions. Two nodes are connected by an edge depending on the degree of statistical dependence between corresponding pairs of time-series taken from climate data, on the basis of similarity shared in climatic variability.,, The climate network approach enables novel insights into the dynamics of the climate system over many spatial scales., ,

Construction of Climate Networks

Depending upon the choice of nodes and/or edges, climate networks may take many different forms, shapes, sizes and complexities. Tsonis et al introduced the field of complex networks to climate. In their model, the nodes for the network were constituted by a single variable (500 hPa) from NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis datasets. In order to estimate the edges between nodes, correlation coefficient at zero time lag between all possible pairs of nodes was estimated. A pair of nodes was considered to be connected, if their correlation coefficient is above a threshold of 0.5.

Climate categories in viticulture

In viticulture, the climates of wine regions are categorised based on the overall characteristics of the area's climate during the growing season. While variations in macroclimate are acknowledged, the climates of most wine regions are categorised (somewhat loosely based on the Köppen climate classification) as being part of a Mediterranean (for example Tuscany), maritime (ex: Bordeaux) or continental climate (ex: Columbia Valley). The majority of the world's premium wine production takes place in one of these three climate categories in locations between the 30th parallel and 50th parallel in both the northern and southern hemisphere. While viticulture does exist in some tropical climates, most notably Brazil, the amount of quality wine production in those areas is so small that the climate effect has not been as extensively studied as other categories.

Influence of climate on viticulture

Beyond establishing whether or not viticulture can even be sustained in an area, the climatic influences of a particular area goes a long way in influencing the type of grape varieties grown in a region and the type of viticultural practices that will be used. The presence of adequate sun, heat and water are all vital to the healthy growth and development of grapevines during the growing season. Additionally, continuing research has shed more light on the influence of dormancy that occurs after harvest when the grapevine essentially shuts down and reserves its energy for the beginning of the next year's growing cycle.

She Wolf

She Wolf (Spanish: Loba) is the eighth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It was released on 9 October 2009, by Epic Records and Sony Music Latin. As executive producers, Shakira and Amanda Ghost enlisted collaborators including The Neptunes, John Hill, Wyclef Jean, Lukas Burton, Future Cut, Jerry Duplessis and Timbaland. Musically, the record shifts from her traditional Latin pop and pop rock musical styles, instead exploring electropop, with influences of folk and world music. The lyrical themes of the album mostly focus on love and relationships and were based on the conversations Shakira had with her friends.

She Wolf reached number one on the charts of Argentina, Ireland, Italy, Mexico and Switzerland. It also charted inside the top five in Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom. It debuted at number fifteen on the Billboard 200. She Wolf was certified double-platinum in Colombia and Mexico, platinum in Italy and Spain, and gold in numerous countries including France and the United Kingdom.

Philosophical movement

A philosophical movement is either the appearance or increased popularity of a specific school of philosophy, or a fairly broad but identifiable sea-change in philosophical thought on a particular subject. Major philosophical movements are often characterized with reference to the nation, language, or historical era in which they arose.

Talk of a philosophical movement can often function as a shorthand for talk of the views of a great number of different philosophers (and others associated with philosophy, such as historians, artists, scientists and political figures). On the other hand, most philosophical movements in history consisted in a great number of individual thinkers who disagreed in various ways; it is often inaccurate and something of a caricature to treat any movement as consisting in followers of uniform opinion. More often the defining ideas of any philosophical movement are templates on which individual thinkers develop their own particular ideas.

Movement (clockwork)

In horology, a movement, also known as a caliber, is the mechanism of a clock or watch, as opposed to the case, which encloses and protects the movement, and the face which displays the time. The term originated with mechanical timepieces, whose clockwork movements are made of many moving parts. It is less frequently applied to modern electronic or quartz timepieces, where the word module is often used instead.

In modern mass-produced clocks and watches, the same movement is often inserted into many different styles of case. When buying a quality pocketwatch from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century, for example, the customer would select movement and case individually. Mechanical movements get dirty and the lubricants dry up, so they must periodically be disassembled, cleaned, and lubricated. One source recommends servicing intervals of: 3–5 years for watches, 15–20 years for grandfather clocks, 10–15 years for wall or mantel clocks, 15–20 years for anniversary clocks, and 7 years for cuckoo clocks, with the longer intervals applying to antique timepieces.