In dealing with natural phenomena, scientists devise schemes of classification that will include variations in those phenomena yet permit the delineation of several clearly defined and easily distinguished groups. Unfortunately, the continuity of nature resists simple categorical schemes, therefore, devising meaningful classes or groups is not always a simple task. Such is certainly the case in the classification of climate. Climate is an abstract concept. It represents the sum of all interacting atmospheric processes over a given period of time and, as such, does not exist at any given moment. That climatology is, in part, concerned with spatial aspects of the environment means that the grouping of similar climates revolves around the problem of where to locate the boundary between the identified classes. But this is only part of the problem because, prior to identifying any climatic type, it is necessary to select the variables on which the classification is based. All or any of the...
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Oliver, J.E., Wilson, L. (1987). Climatic classification . In: Climatology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30749-4_38
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