Weather vs Climate
Distinguish between weather and climate: weather is what the atmosphere is doing right now or today (it can change hour to hour), while climate is the typical pattern of weather in a place over many years
What a learner can do afterwards
- Define weather as short-term atmospheric conditions
- Define climate as the long-term pattern of weather in a place
- Give an example showing the difference: a cold day doesn't change the overall climate
The lesson
Weather is what the sky and air are doing right now or today. Is it sunny, rainy, windy, or snowy? Weather can change fast, sometimes even from morning to afternoon.
Mia lives in a desert town, where most days are hot, dry, and sunny. Yesterday it rained hard and the streets got wet, which was strange for that place. But the desert's climate is still hot and dry most of the time. One rainy day did not change the desert's climate.
Weather is what you see out the window today. Climate is what you would expect most days if you lived in a place for years. One rainy or cold day is just weather. It takes many years of weather to make up a climate.
Weather is what the sky is doing today; climate is the usual pattern of weather in a place over many years.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.