Weather & Climate: What is the difference between the two?

Weather and climate. It can often be difficult to differentiate between these two entities as they are both intrinsically linked. Saying that, there are two major differences to help separate them.

While weather looks at the minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour, day-to-day changes in the atmosphere, climate looks at the long-term average of weather conditions at a local, regional and global scale.

Secondly, like weather, climate varies around the world based on latitude, altitude and the influence of nearby water bodies. The only other major difference is that climate involves looking at the oceans and ice on the Earth as well as its atmosphere.

Meteorologists, climatologists, and scientists collect climate data to assess how the world has changed and how it is changing. They also use this data to look at the impact of climate on animals, humans and weather patterns around the world.

So while the weather is right here, right now, climate looks a little deeper look into what is happening around the world over a longer period of time.