What is Weather and What is Climate?
by Stephanie Ho Lem, CHCA Director – Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainability
While reading Letters to the Editor in the Calgary Herald, I recall an individual making a comment about City Council declaring a Climate Emergency, “I don’t know what the fuss is about it’s just the weather”. People are reluctant to believe that the climate is changing when they can look outside their window and see for themselves that the weather appears typical.
Could it be the confusion surrounding distinctions between weather and climate, thus the slow reaction to act on climate change?
Weather refers to short-term changes in the atmosphere, climate describes what the weather is like over a long period of time in a specific area. Though they are closely related, weather and climate aren’t the same thing. Climate is what you expect, weather is what actually happens.
Another difference between weather and climate could be explained with an analogy: weather influences what clothes you wear on a given day, while the climate where you live influences the entire wardrobe you buy.
Extreme weather is becoming more common, support for climate policies is also growing, especially at the local level. Everyone on Earth is experiencing the effects of a hotter planet. That makes it a problem of the present, not of the future.
Various levels of government are providing money to help make homes more energy efficient, to increase public transportation, and to install bike lanes, plus greater investment in renewable energy. Renewable energy supplies have expanded, world energy usage has also expanded.
The more the world economy grows, the more difficult it is to rein in the growth. Addressing climate change is a priority.
Please note that the content provided is for informational purposes.
Sources:
• US – EPA
