mathematical climate

mathematical climate

[¦math·ə¦mad·ə·kəl ′klī·mət] (climatology) An elementary generalization of the earth's climatic pattern, based entirely on the annual cycle of the sun's inclination; this early climatic classification recognized three basic latitudinal zones (the summerless, intermediate, and winterless), which are now known as the Frigid, Temperate, and Torrid Zones, and which are bounded by the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.