"Climate explained in 30 seconds" describes in understandable language the main factors that determine our climate: the sun, atmosphere, oceans, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. These factors not only dictate the climate zones, with the tropics, temperate zone, and polar regions being the most significant, but also influence the characteristics of the seasons. Periodic shifts in the Earth's orbit and rotation also change the climate over the long term. Throughout Earth's history, there have been not only phases of significantly higher temperatures but also times when large parts of our planet were covered by a thick ice sheet.