for Teachers for Schools for Enterprise
for Teachers for Schools for Enterprise
Copyright
Course Navigator
Factors That Affect Wind: Pressure Gradient Forces, Coriolis Effect & FrictionNext Lesson 

Weather vs. Climate: Definition, Differences & Effects

Chapter 20 /  Lesson 1   Transcript
Try it risk-free for 30 days

An error occurred trying to load this video.

Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support.

Coming up next: Factors That Affect Wind: Pressure Gradient Forces, Coriolis Effect & Friction

You're on a roll. Keep up the good work!

Take Quiz Watch Next Lesson
 Replay
Your next lesson will play in 10 seconds
  • 0:08 Weather vs. Climate
  • 1:59 Weather and Climate…
  • 3:07 Lesson Summary
Add to Add to Add to

Want to watch this again later?

Log in or sign up to add this lesson to a Custom Course.

Login or Sign up

Timeline
Autoplay
Autoplay
Speed

Recommended Lessons and Courses for You

Lesson Transcript
Instructor: Sarah Friedl

Sarah has two Master's, one in Zoology and one in GIS, a Bachelor's in Biology, and has taught college level Physical Science and Biology.

This video lesson will guide you in understanding the difference between climate and weather. Discover how they are different but related and how they are the ways you can describe atmospheric conditions on Earth.

Weather vs. Climate

Thomas Jefferson seems to have done it all. He was our third president. He wrote the Declaration of Independence. He designed the University of Virginia. He helped create the Bill of Rights. He organized the Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Northwest.

But did you know that he was also one of the first climatologists? Jefferson loved science and technology and had a keen interest in weather data. He kept detailed records of hourly and daily temperatures, described differences in wind patterns between inland areas and the coast, and understood changes in the Virginia climate due to land clearing.

Much of what we now consider common knowledge about weather and climate patterns was described by Thomas Jefferson, and his zealous record keeping provides current climatologists with a lot of past information. Though Jefferson didn't know it at the time, he was actually measuring two different, but related, types of data. The short-term atmospheric conditions are what we call weather, and these are all of the daily, hourly and monthly data he collected. The long-term atmospheric conditions are what we call climate, and these are those short-term weather conditions averaged over long periods of time.

If you think about it, this makes sense. Do you check the climate report for the day's temperatures and rain forecast? Probably not - you check the weather report. You also don't hear scientists and politicians talking about global weather change - they're discussing global climate change.

Let's look at another example. If you want to look at the average temperature of North America over the past 100 years, this would be the climate of North America for that period of time. However, if you wanted to look at conditions for each month, day or hour, this would be the weather of North America for those shorter periods of time.

Weather and Climate Are Related

As you can see, though weather and climate describe different things, they depend on each other to have any sort of meaning. Think about it this way: the weather is like short-term climate, and the climate is like long-term weather. The specific weather of any area depends on the climate, and the climate is the average weather conditions for that area.

For example, if you were going to vacation in the tropics, you might expect high temperatures, lots of sunshine, afternoon thunderstorms and high humidity. This is the tropical climate. However, you would still want to know what the conditions of each specific day of your trip are going to be, and that's the weather.

To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account

Register to view this lesson

Are you a student or a teacher?

Unlock Your Education

See for yourself why 30 million people use Study.com

Become a Study.com member and start learning now.
Become a Member  Back
What teachers are saying about Study.com
Try it risk-free for 30 days
Description

Earning College Credit

Did you know… We have over 160 college courses that prepare you to earn credit by exam that is accepted by over 1,500 colleges and universities. You can test out of the first two years of college and save thousands off your degree. Anyone can earn credit-by-exam regardless of age or education level.

To learn more, visit our Earning Credit Page

Transferring credit to the school of your choice

Not sure what college you want to attend yet? Study.com has thousands of articles about every imaginable degree, area of study and career path that can help you find the school that's right for you.

Research Schools, Degrees & Careers

Get the unbiased info you need to find the right school.

Browse Articles By Category

Browse an area of study or degree level.

Recommended Articles
You are viewing lesson Lesson 1 in chapter 20 of the course:

 Back To Course

UExcel Earth Science: Study Guide & Test Prep

23 chapters | 201 lessons | 23 flashcard sets

Ch 20. Weather and Storms
Ch 21. Understanding...

Weather vs. Climate: Definition, Differences & Effects Related Study Materials

Create an account to start this course today
Try it risk-free for 30 days!
Create An Account

Explore our library of over 75,000 lessons

Browse by subject
Support