Climatology

Climatology is a branch of science that deals with the study of the changes in the climate and the temperature and the various factors affecting these changes. It gives a brief idea for the people to understand the weather pattern and the temperature changes that are occurring over time. It also plays a part in recording and analysing the weather pattern throughout the world. This study deals with the natural and artificial forces that influence long-term climate change, and the scientists performing this analysis over the climatic conditions are called climatologists. The overall basis of climatology is to study the human activities that are causing climate change.

CLIMATOLOGY MEANING:

When it comes to climatology, it is defined as a branch of science that deals with the study of the climate and weather change taking place all over the world. The climatologists studying the factors affecting the climate and weather change had a basic goal of neglecting these factors, which are leading to the drastic change in the temperature and climatic modification. However, sometimes climatology is confused with meteorology. Though, the basic difference between these two scientific studies is that the former is the study of the weather and climatic conditions pertaining to the global scale, whereas the latter is the study of the weather and climatic changes confined to a small area.

METHODS ADOPTED FOR CLIMATOLOGY:

Climatology deals with the study of climatic conditions and the factors affecting them. Several methods are adopted to obtain brief details about the factors affecting the climate and the temperature worldwide. Statistical and mathematical methods can obtain this knowledge of the climatic condition. Most of the commonly used methods of climatology are:

1. Climate data: To study the climatic condition, the collection of the data is very much essential. Having a record of the previous or earlier climatic condition gives an idea about the future predictions. The collection of the data of these climatic conditions is done through direct and indirect observations, i.e., with the help of Earth-observing satellites as well as by using earthly instruments like thermometers, rain metres, etc.
2. Climate models: climate models are the statistical method of studying climatic conditions. Climate models are used to simulate the interaction of the various factors which affect long-term clinical conditions. Mostly these climate models depend upon the incoming and outgoing electromagnetic radiations. Any variation in these radiation levels predicts the average temperature change in the Earth. Climate models give an approximate result about the climatic changes.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CLIMATOLOGY AND METEOROLOGY:

Climatology is a branch of science that deals with long-term weather conditions, for example, temperature change, ice level, flood and drought patterns, etc. Whereas metrology is also a branch of science that deals with climatic conditions, metrology focuses only on short-term weather conditions. Climatology covers the larger area, or the overall global climate changes, whereas the methodology is concerned about small areas and their climatic changes. In metrology, the data collected from the satellite gives information about the weather conditions. In contrast, in climatology, several satellite data are collected, and the temperature mapping, energy flow, and various other aspects are recorded to see the climate change and the factors affecting it.

BRANCHES OF CLIMATOLOGY:

Climatology is categorised into five basic subdivisions. They are:

• Physical climatology: This study basically focuses on solar energy and the exchange of energy from one phase to the other.
• Dynamic climatology: This study focuses on the increase of greenhouse gases as well as the sea surface temperature.
• Applied climatology: This study deals with the exploration of the relationship of climatology to other fields of science.
• Regional climatology: It deals with the study of various climatic characteristics and their effect on the life, health, and economic condition of the people.
• Synoptic climatology: This study deals with the hemispheric climatic conditions and the circulation patterns affecting the climatic variation.

PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY:

Palaeoclimatology is the study of the ancient climate on the basis of historical climatic events and variations. Palaeoclimatology plays a vital role in studying the evolution of the climatic condition on the basis of the natural variation and the early variation of the climate. Information collected in this category of climatology includes the proxy methods, i.e., the effects of the climatic variation on various earthly matters like the rocks, ice sheets, tree rings, corals, fossils, sediments, etc. Palaeoclimatology provides a report to differ between the earlier natural variation of the climatic condition and the present variation of the climatic condition due to human activities and several other factors.

THEORETICAL AND APPLIED CLIMATOLOGY:

Theoretical and Applied Climatology is the journal that is published by Springer Science+Business Media. This journal is the continuation of the Archives of Meteorology, Geophysics, and Bioclimatology which was published in the year 1949. Theoretical and Applied Climatology provides the latest and most significant development and information obtained from climatology studies all over the world.

CONCLUSION:

Climatology is a branch of science that deals with the study of climatic conditions and the various factors affecting them. Basically, climatology focuses on studying the human factors that are affecting long-term climatic conditions. Climatology must not be confused with metrology, which is the study of small-area climatic conditions. There are several branches of climatology to study various aspects of climate and its variation pattern. There are five basic subdivisions of climatology, physical climatology, regional climatology, applied climatology, dynamic climatology, and synoptic climatology.