ABSTRACT
The smallest scale of climate variations can conveniently be termed local climates. The spatial range for these varies from a few square centimetres, for example the conditions around a growing plant, to a few square kilometres, for example the climate of a city. Although this, as Figure 1.8 indicates, spans the range of what is conventionally both micro- and meso-climate, they are treated together here since this is the scale where humans interact directly with the climate. It is the local climate that we experience every day, that dictates what crops we grow, that determines our home heating bills and influences our city drainage system design. It is also on the local scale that we can deliberately modify the climate to help meet our need for comfort and also the scale upon which the major inadvertent modifications have already taken place.
