The introduction sets out the rationale for the volume and its three sections. The first section, ‘Origins’, explores some of the fundamental questions arising out of the discursive condition of the concept of climate. The second, ‘Evolution’, pivots on the eighteenth century as a key moment in climate history - the formal codification and longitudinal observation of weather as the basis for an understanding of climate. The final section, ‘Application’, looks at climate’s status in the literature of the Anthropocene, exploring, in particular, how contemporary concerns around climate and climate change interact with established literary norms, particular those around temporal setting and duration.