Grammar: <klimaat> [noun] [het klimaat, de klimaten].
Translates to: climate.
Examples:
1. "Nederland heeft een zeeklimaat."
("The Netherlands have a sea climate.")
2. "Vandaag is in Nairobi de klimaatconferentie van de Verenigde Naties begonnen."
("Today, the climate conference of the United Nations has started in Nairobi.")
3. "Het sociale klimaat in Nederland is de laatste jaren verhard."
("The social climate in The Netherlands has hardened in the last few years.")
Related Words:
1. "Broeikaseffect": the greenhouse effect, global warming.
2. "Weer": weather, see also "DWOTD 56. Herfst".
3. "Het gat in de ozonlaag": the hole in the ozon layer.
4. "Acclimatiseren": [verb] to get used to a different climate or surroundings.
Example:
<sitting down after having entered a friend’s house:> "Zo, even acclimatiseren!"
(Something like: "Well, let’s settle in for a bit now.")
Extra:
The Netherlands are called The Netherlands because the word "nether" translates to "neder" which means "low". The Netherlands used to be called "De Lage Landen": The Low Lands, because half of the country lies below sealevel. The Dutch have a long history of fighting the water overflowing their land. Here’s how The Netherlans would look like if there were no dikes and dams: http://brucop.com/millennium/nederlands/transgressions/hkaart.jpg
In 1953, the so called "Watersnoodramp" took place. In the last night of January, The Netherlands were hit by a flood disaster. The province of Zeeland, the islands of South-Holland and the south-west corner of the province of North-Brabant were hit very heavily by a severe storm roaring across the North sea and the Netherlands.
1835 people drowned and thousands of cattle met the same fate. To prevent this from happening ever again, the Deltaworks were built, a defence system of dams and dykes against high tides and floods.
http://www.deltawerken.com/English/10.html?setlanguage=en
http://www.deltawerken.com/Deltaworks/23.html
Dutch engineers have also been invited to advise on new water defence systems in New Orleans.