Question

What are the differences between Weather and Climate?

Answer 1

Hint: A factor that differentiates weather and climate is the measure of time. While weather indicates short-term variations in the atmosphere, climate represents what the weather is like over a long period of time in a particular area.

Complete answer: As both weather and climate are measures of atmospheric conditions, people tend to use them simultaneously. The difference among both weather and climate is determined by the time factor. While the weather measures atmospheric conditions of short time span, (for eg: minute to minute, day to day or season to season) climate measures the variation in atmospheric conditions during a large span of time (for eg: decade to decade, century to century). The measurement of weather is taken on the basis of atmospheric factors such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, clearness, wind, cloudiness etc. As atmospheric conditions are too dynamic to express for a long term period, the general tendencies and patterns of variation in atmospheric conditions are taken to understand the climate. Thus it can be said that weather is the result of immediate contrast of the atmospheric conditions while climate is the average variation in atmospheric conditions with respect to time and space.

Note: Observers and automated stations across the globe measure weather conditions at thousands of locations each day of the year. Observations are sometimes made hourly, otherwise just once a day. Over time, these weather observations allow quantifying long-term average conditions, which give an insight into the climate of a region.