In the opening chapters contributors lay out the large-scale context of the physical climate of Canada, introducing the processes, balances, and dynamic linkages between the surface and atmosphere that create and maintain the diversity of surface climates found in Canada as well as outlining the nature of the physical processes that operate near the ground's surface. Individual chapters are dedicated to snow and ice - the almost universal surface cover in Canada - and the other major natural surface environments of Canada: ocean and coastal zones, fresh water lakes, wetlands, arctic islands,...