Climate Vs. Weather

One common source of confusion about climate change has to do with the difference between climate and weather.  Every winter, it gets cold and snows, and people joke about global warming not being real.  

Weather is the day to day fluctuations in temperature, wind, humidity, solar radiation (and more) while climate is the long term pattern of these factors, we can delve into different factors that affect climate. 

To better understand the difference between weather and climate, and how climate change relates to weather, watch the 8-minute video below by Dr. Katherine Hayhoe.  She is an atmospheric scientist at Texas Tech and one of the most effective climate scientists and climate communicators around.  You'll be hearing quite a bit from her during this unit.