Final answer:
The term for temperature, precipitation, and humidity of an area over short periods like hours or days is weather, while climate refers to long-term patterns.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that describes the temperature, precipitation, and humidity of an area over hours or days is weather. Unlike climate, which refers to the long-term average weather patterns over decades and centuries, weather accounts for these variables on a much shorter timescale. So, weather includes day-to-day changes in atmospheric conditions, making forecasts typically relevant for 48-hour periods. In contrast, climate defines the consistent seasonal temperature and rainfall ranges over an extended period, which shapes the nature of a biome.Within biomes, moisture and temperature are crucial factors; they dictate not only the type of climate, such as arid, semi-arid, humid, or semi-humid, but also the distribution of organisms. Elevation is another key component in determining climate since temperature generally decreases with increased altitude, affecting the biome's moisture levels and overall weather patterns.