Climate is a long period of weather condition that exists in a particular region. A climate is measured in terms of temperature, wind, humidity, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, and other meteorological factors. On the contrary, the weather is a short-term change in the atmosphere, such as temperature, precipitation, clouds, and winds. It changes rapidly in a day to day basis or even minute to minute. In other words, the term climate is associated with the weather condition that lasts for a long period of time, whereas weather lasts only for a short period of time.

The Sun, which is a yellow star, is the primary source of energy that is harnessed by the life-forms in the Earth. The solar energy is responsible for the light energy and heat energy that is present on our planet. When the sun’s radiation travels to our planet, it causes the energy that warms the Earth. On the other hand, the greenhouse effect happens when there is too much carbon dioxide that is trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere. This effect causes an increase in temperature. Both the solar energy and greenhouse effect cause our global climate system to become warm, which is ideal for life-forms. However, when there is too much heat on our planet, it may cause climate change.

Ocean currents, which are the ocean water’s movement in a particular direction, are mainly influenced by factors such as wind patterns, temperature, water density, salinity, ocean basin shape, and gravity.

The factors that affect the climates in different parts of the Earth include the latitude, which tells how far or how near the region is to the equator; the ocean currents, which is the ocean’s movement; wind masses, which regulates the temperature or the climate of the surface below it; elevation, which causes the temperature to decrease once the altitude increases; relief, which causes rain shadows and precipitation; proximity to the water, which influences the temperature of the land closest to it.

Climate change causes changes in the temperature, wind patterns, amounts of clouds and precipitation, and frequency of severe weather events. The reason for climate change is due to several factors that include both nonhuman or natural causes and human activities. Nonhuman causes include changes in solar energy, variation in Earth’s orbit, movement of plates, mountain formations, volcanic activities, and meteorites. Human activities include burning of fossil fuels, using aerosol sprays, and cutting of trees.

Changes in terms of the temperature, wind patterns, amounts of clouds and precipitation, sea levels, and frequency of severe weather events are the effects of climate change. These series of events dictate how species would survive. They can either adapt or die to the changing climate. As a possibility, the planet’s biodiversity would become extinct within the next hundreds or thousands of years if they are not able to adapt to the Earth’s severe climate conditions.

In order for Biosphere 2 to meet its goal, which is to provide a successful model for human space colonies, scientists and engineers built prototypes of several environments which can replicate the real-life climates in order to see how the complex processes in the entire planet work in order to support life. In this way, they can provide a viable ecological system in outer space, which is similar to what we have on Earth. In this model, the different climates are integrated to see how the driving factors such as atmosphere, oceans, and topography are interacting with each other.