Antecedents of the concept of climate can be found in Greece in fifth century BC. To Hippocratic writers, seasonal change, climatic conditions and location all influenced the occurrence of disease. Franco and Williams (2000) say that ‘the Hippcratic treatise “Airs, waters, places” associates season, prevailing winds, and the quality of the air and water with the physical condition of people’. The earliest notions of climate were linked with latitude and astronomy. The Greek historian and geographer Herodotus writing in the midâ€fourth century BC, noted climatic contrasts between Greece, Scythia and Libya