Climate is characterized by the global, regional, and local distribution of solar radiation, precipitation, temperature, wind, and humidity at the earth’s surface. The earth-sun relationship that defines season combines with latitude, surface cover (land versus sea), the water cycle, and movement of air masses, to generate global weather patterns. As opposed to weather that takes place over a short time span, climate represents long-term trends that are averaged over a time scale of several decades. These trends are classified into climate types with names indicative of their dominant temperature and precipitation features. Knowledge of the macroclimate of a representative city or region, in combination with a qualitative understanding of local microclimate, allows architects, builders, city planners, and landscape architects to modify indoor and outdoor environments in ways that improve human comfort, reduce building energy consumption, and optimize site resource use. Indigenous build...