The term _climate_ is used to express the combination of temperature and
moisture which prevails at any particular place, or, in more familiar
terms, the prevailing _weather_.
The most prominent causes of diversity of climate are the heat of the
sun, the respective position of land and water, and the elevation of
land above the level of the sea. To these may be added, as producing
considerable though less marked effects, the nature of the soil, the
prevailing winds, the position of mountain ranges, and the currents of
the ocean.