Distinguish weather from climate
The idea
Weather describes atmospheric conditions at a particular time and place.
Step by step
- Weather describes atmospheric conditions at a particular time and place.
- Climate describes long-term patterns, often summarized using decades of observations.
- A single unusual day does not by itself establish a climate trend.
Example
A report says it is raining in a town at noon today. What does it describe?
Answer
weather
The report describes conditions at a specific short-term time and place.
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Write one sentence about today’s weather and another about a region’s thirty-year pattern. Underline each time span.
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