Climate describes the average weather conditions of a particular place over a 30-year period. All places on Earth have their own climates. Some climates are small in scale, like the climate of a local region or the microclimates within an ecosystem, and some are much larger, such as the climates of entire continents, or the world’s oceans. Different from weather events, which are short-term and temporary phenomena, climates are usually steady and predictable, and shape how organisms and human civilizations evolve and adapt in any given region. However, climates are not always permanent, and can change drastically due to human activity.