The Difference
Between
Weather and Climate
Devaney Ross
Why is knowing the difference
important???
Climate change
BOTH
 Atmospheric
 Particular
 Measured
conditions
Region
DIFFEREN
CE?
Weather
• Short-term
• Changes frequently
Ex) sunshine, rain, snow,
flooding, heat waves, etc.
Climate
• Long-term
• Takes a long time to change
• Average weather patterns of a
region
Ex) averages of temperature, humidity,
precipitation, etc.
Climate
• Long-term
• What you expect
Weather
• Atmospheric
conditions of
a particular
region
• Short-term
• What you get
Let’s
Summarize!
1.
2.
It is very sunny and 85 degrees outside
today.
CLIMAT
The desert is hot and dry.E
3.
It’s been raining for the past 3 daysWEATHE
in New
Jersey and there might be a flood coming.
R
4.
There was aWEATHE
strong wind coming from the
North yesterday.
R
5.
WEATHE
R
CLIMAT
In the U.S., January is typically a cold month.
E
Weather or
Climate?
You tell
me.
What does this have
to do with the climate
change debate?
Global
Warming
Hotter Weather
We had a really cold day last week.
SHORT-TERM = WEATHER
But in the past century, Earth’s
surface temperature has risen about
1 degree.
LONG-TERM = CLIMATE
*Global Warming is based on the
climate change of the Earth, not
the weather of a particular
day/week*
References

https://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/faq/difference-betweenweather-and-climate

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/noaa-n/climate/climate_weather.html

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/weather_climate.html