Weather and climate: today's air versus the pattern over many years

0:00What is the difference between weather and climate?

0:04Weather is what the air is doing right now, in one place.

0:09By the next day, it can be very different.

0:12Over a month, the weather jumps up and down from day to day.

0:17So weather is short term, measured in hours and days.

0:21Climate is the usual weather of a place, measured over many years.

0:27Scientists average about 30 years of weather to describe the climate.

0:32One cold day, or one hot day, does not change the climate.

0:37Climate itself can change too, but usually very slowly.

0:42Ice cores, rocks and fossils show that Earth has swung slowly between ice ages and warm periods.

0:50In just the last 150 years, Earth has warmed by more than 1 degree Celsius.

0:57The main cause is people burning coal, oil and gas, which adds greenhouse gases to the air.

1:04Weather is what happens today, and climate is the pattern over many years.