About Weather vs Climate
Weather is what the atmosphere is doing now or over the next several days. Climate describes long-term patterns, averages, ranges, and trends over many years. A cold day does not disprove global warming, and one hot day does not prove it by itself.
Weather
Weather changes from hour to hour and day to day.
Learn MoreClimate
Climate summarizes long-term conditions.
Learn MoreClimate Zones
Latitude, elevation, oceans, mountains, vegetation, and atmospheric circulation create climate zones.
Learn MoreRecords
Long-term climate analysis requires consistent records.
Learn MoreTrends
Climate trends emerge from many observations over time.
Learn MoreGlobal Warming
Earth's average surface temperature has risen because human activities increased greenhouse gases.
Learn MoreExtremes
Climate change can alter the probability or intensity of some extreme events.
Learn MoreAdaptation
Communities adapt through infrastructure, warning systems, planning, water management, building design, and emergency preparation.
Learn MoreWeather
Forecasting asks what conditions will occur at a particular place and time.
Climate
It includes typical temperatures, rainfall, seasonality, extremes, and variability.
Climate Zones
Tropical, desert, temperate, continental, mountain, and polar climates are broad examples.
Records
Weather stations, ships, satellites, ice cores, tree rings, corals, and sediments all contribute.
Trends
A trend can coexist with large year-to-year variability.
Global Warming
Carbon dioxide from fossil fuels is the largest long-lived driver of recent warming.
Extremes
Effects differ by hazard and region.
Adaptation
Reducing greenhouse-gas emissions addresses the long-term cause of human-driven warming.