CLIMATE

CLIMATE
   The climate of Etruscan Italy was essentially the Mediterranean climate of today: a wet winter and an extremely dry summer. However, some authors suggest that the climate may have been warmer and drier, which would have had implications both for agriculture and health. The altitudinal relief emphasized below was more important in determining variation in the nature of rainfall, temperature, and vegetational cover. The modern rainfall of the Italian peninsula is profoundly determined by relief and season and there is every reason to think that this would have been broadly the same in the Etruscan period. Annual rainfall exceeds 1,000 millimeters above 1,000 meters and drops to lower levels in the hill and coastal regions, ranging from 800 to 900 millimeters in the Arno Valley to 600 to 700 millimeters in southeastern Italy. The changes in environment were highly regional, generally precipitated by human action working on the potential fragility of the Mediterranean landscape, especially at times of seasonally low vegetation cover between September and November, leading to erosion and alluviation.
   See also GEOMORPHOLOGY.

Historical Dictionary of the Etruscans. .

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  • climate — developed its figurative meaning ‘the prevailing trend of opinion or public feeling’ as early as the 17c, despite its modern ring. Examples: • The whole climate of thought will be different George Orwell, 1949 • We must…take account of the… …   Modern English usage

  • climate — [klī′mət] n. [ME climat < OFr < LL clima < Gr klima, region, zone < base of klinein, to slope (see INCLINE): orig., slope of the earth from the equator toward the poles] 1. the prevailing or average weather conditions of a place, as… …   English World dictionary

  • climate — [n1] weather of region altitude, aridity, atmospheric conditions, characteristic weather, clime, conditions, humidity, latitude, meteorological character, meteorologic conditions, temperature; concept 524 climate [n2] mood of situation ambience,… …   New thesaurus

  • Climate — Cli mate, v. i. To dwell. [Poetic] Shak. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Climate — Cli mate, n. [F. climat, L. clima, atis, fr. Gr. ?, ?, slope, the supposed slope of the earth (from the equator toward the pole), hence a region or zone of the earth, fr. ? to slope, incline, akin to E. lean, v. i. See {Lean}, v. i., and cf.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • climate — I noun atmosphere, aura, caelum, circumambiency, clime, condition, environment, environmental conditions, feeling, forces of nature, influences, mood, prevailing attitudes, prevailing conditions, prevailing standards, surrounding influence,… …   Law dictionary

  • climate — late 14c., Scottish, from O.Fr. climat, from L. clima (gen. climatis) region, slope of the Earth, from Gk. klima region, zone, from root of klinein to slope, thus slope of the Earth from equator to pole, from PIE root *klei to lean (see LEAN (Cf …   Etymology dictionary

  • climate — ► NOUN 1) the general weather conditions prevailing in an area over a long period. 2) a prevailing trend or public attitude. DERIVATIVES climatology noun climatological adjective. ORIGIN originally denoting a zone of the earth between two lines… …   English terms dictionary

  • Climate — For other uses, see Climate (disambiguation). Worldwide Climate Classifications Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature …   Wikipedia

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