The main difference between these two terms is the duration, where the weather is the day-to-day or short term condition of the changes in the atmosphere, and climate is the averaged weather condition of a particular place over a long time, about 30 years.
Like for instance, we talk about the weather in terms of “hot it will be today?” “Will it rain or not”? Or “What about the snowstorm this week”?. On the other hand, climate changes are observed in term of years, decades and centuries and include statistical weather information, that provides us with the regular weather report.
Weather and climate are always interrelated words and bit confusing too. We check the weather forecast for our place to plan our days. Global warming and Climate change are a very hot topic of the news around the world and scientist are concern about such variation in the climate of different places.
The weather changing patterns and global climate changes, it is uncertain to say that whether the sudden change in the weather of any particular day was the effects of climate change, though the pattern changes can be predicted.
According to the study and research, our Earth is warming with high rate than it was in the past. Though hot summers are the typical one with the climate in many regions, the apart from global warming is increasing if the Earth average global temperature. At this moment we will be comparing the two terms which are ‘weather and climate’ with a brief description of them.
Content: Weather Vs Climate
Comparison Chart
| Basis for Comparison | Weather | Climate |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Weather is day-to-day information of the changes in the atmospheric condition in any area. | Climate is statistical weather information that provides information about the average weather condition of a particular place over a long period. |
| Duration | The short term atmospheric condition of any place is the weather, which may vary by time-to-time. | The long term average weather atmospheric condition of a place or country is the climate. |
| Affected By | Weather is affected by temperature, pressure, humidity, cloudiness, wind, precipitation, rain, flooding, ice storms, etc. | The climate is the long term observations of the atmospheric conditions at any location like humidity, temperature, the sunshine, wind, etc. |
| It affects the | The weather may affect the day-to-day occupation, and it may hamper transportation services, agriculture, etc. | Climate significantly affects agriculture, industries, the livelihood of the peoples. |
| Changes observed | The changes in the weather condition can be observed very frequently. | The changes in climate take a longer time to change. |
| Studied by | Weather forecasting is observed by the Meteorological Department of any particular place, and the study is known as Meteorology. | The Climate Prediction Centre predicts climate and its study is known as Climatology. |
Definition of Weather
Weather is the short-term atmospheric conditions of any particular place, day and time. Although entire Earth’s is covered by only one atmosphere, the weather is not the same all around the place. The weather may variate over minutes, hours and days in different places of the world.
The changes in the weather are mostly observed in the place that is closest to the ground known as Troposphere. The factors which are responsible for causing these changes temperature, humidity, direction, air pressure, etc. Nowadays, it’s very to easy predict the weather of a given time and location.
Definition of Climate
Climate conditions, describe larger areas- like countries, or any cities. It is the average of weather conditions over a long time and space. The record of the climate is also maintained by the respective centres of that particular place, like the hottest day, coldest day, or the amount rainfall, these records are used in predicting the climate of the upcoming time by comparing the records of the last few years.
Different regions vary with the different climates and depend on the factors of weathers like humidity, temperature, precipitation, rainfall, etc., that have occurred over a long period of time at that particular place. Climate is observed on the averages of over 30 years.
Weather effects are for few minutes or hours, but climate change for long duration and occurs due to the events like El Niño, which happens for several years thus resulting in many greater fluctuations occurring over decades. Gradually the climate changes that occur take hundreds and thousands of years.
The study of climate change and its impact is essential to study as it shows how the change in day-to-day weather events is affecting people and their livelihood. It is expected that in the upcoming times, there will be a rise in global temperatures, which will ultimately lead to an increase in sea levels and change in precipitation patterns.
It will also impact the local climate conditions, and in their crop yields, forest, water supplies as well as human and animals health and the whole ecosystem.
Key Differences Between Weather and Climate
Given below points are the critical one to understand the difference between the two terms:
- The day-to-day information of the changes in the atmospheric conditions in any location for a particular time is known as weather. On the other hand, the climate is statistical weather information, that provides information about the average weather condition of a particular location over a long period of time, for the span of more than 30 years.
- Weather is short term atmospheric condition of any place, which may vary by time-to-time, like throughout night, or day, while climate is the long term average weather atmospheric condition of a place or country. Weather is affected by temperature, pressure, humidity, cloudiness, wind, precipitation, rain, flooding, ice storms, etc., even the climate is the long term observations of the atmospheric conditions at any location like humidity, temperature, sunshine, wind, solar radiation, etc.
- The weather may affect the day-to-day occupation, it may hamper transportation services, agriculture, etc., as it is for short term and so the effects also, though climate greatly affects agriculture, industries, the livelihood of the peoples as it is for long term.
- Changes may be observed in the weather condition very frequently, though the changes in climate take a longer time to observe.
- Weather forecasting is observed by the Meteorological Department of any particular place, and the study is known as Meteorology and Climate is predicted by the Climate Prediction Centre and its study is known as Climatology.
Conclusion
Weather and climate seem to be interchangeable at some level, as they are affected by almost the same elements, but we came to know that the duration of occurrence is what makes them different. We can sum up by saying that “weather is what you get, but the climate is what you expect”.
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