Difference between weather and climate

Use this interactive to explore the similarities and differences between weather and climate. Place the statement cards where you think they belong. The three options are: • statements that are related to weather • statements that are related to climate • statements that apply to both weather and climate – in the middle where the two circles intersect. You can move the statement cards from one place to another if you change your mind. Note: if the label has not changed to blue, check it is fully within the Venn diagram part. When you are ready, click the Check answers button to check your ideas, then click the Reset incorrect button to try again. Use the Download exercise button for a PDF of the diagram and cards. The activity

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Adding confusion to the politics of weather and climate are at some level interchangeable. The two terms are confused with one another, presumably because the same elements (solar radiation, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, precipitation, etc.) make them what they are, but there is more to the story. The main difference between weather and climate is duration. Weather and climate relate to one another in much the same way that an inning in a baseball game compares with the whole game. The weather is the set of conditions in the atmosphere in one location for a limited period of time—such as throughout the day, at night, or at any particular point during the day. When your local meteorologist says that today will be partly sunny and 80 ⁰F with 10-mile-per-hour southwesterly winds and high humidity, he or she is talking about the weather conditions for some portion of a given day. Climate, however, describes the average condition of the atmosphere over a long period of time, such as across spans of 30 years or more, for a given location. Moreover, weather conditions change from hour to hour and even moment to moment for a single point, neighborhood, town, or city on Earth’s surface. Climate conditions, on the other hand, are far less volatile, and they are often used to describe larger areas—such as parts of countries, whole countries, or even groups of countries. Climate conditions also differ between one part of the planet and ...

[MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER: Climate change can be a confusing subject to talk about because so many people seem to confuse climate with weather. The world's climate is not the same thing as the weather. But what does that mean? What exactly is the difference between weather and climate? Mostly, the difference is time. Weather is the set of conditions in the atmosphere at a specific location at a specific time. Weather changes day to day, hour to hour. But climate describes the average conditions in an area over a long period of time. Climate changes over decades or centuries. And it's not just time though, it's also area. Weather is sometimes different just a few miles away. But climate is often used to describe whole regions of the planet. Here's an example of these differences. What's the weather like in Timbuktu, Mali? Well, the answer depends on when you're watching this video. It might be hot or it might be cool. It might be sunny or cloudy. And it might even be cooler in one part of the city than another. Timbuktu is located in the Sahara Desert. Now what is the climate of the Sahara Desert like? Well, that's easier. The Sahara has a hot, dry climate. High atmospheric pressure combined with a tropical location mean high levels of solar radiation heat the region up. And that's true even when it's cool or cloudy, because the climate isn't about what's happening right now. It's about what happens on average. That difference in scale isn't just semantics either. Slight chan...

Weather Weather shows the way the atmosphere behaves and can change from minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour and day-to-day. There are many components to weather, which include temperature, rain, wind, hail, snow, humidity, flooding, thunderstorms, heatwaves and more. When you look outside your window on any given day, what you see is weather. Climate Climate, on the other hand, is the weather in a specific area over a long period of time – usually 30 years of more. When scientists talk about climate, they look for trends or cycles of variability, such as changes in temperature, humidity, precipitation, ocean-surface temperature and other weather phenomena that occur over longer periods of time in a specific location. How does the climate change? While changes in weather can occur in minutes, climate changes over longer periods of time. Climate events, like El Niño, happen over several years, with larger fluctuations happening over decades. And, even larger climate changes happen over hundreds and thousands of years. Today, our climate is changing. Earth's climate is warming due to increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes in its The effects of climate warming will be felt by millions of people all around the world as crops could suffer, water supplies could dwindle and sea levels rise. Both land and marine ecosystems will be affected, with potential for far-reaching conseque...