Can We Predict the Weather? Climate vs Weather

Difference between weather and climate explained B1

Many people confuse weather and climate. They are related but different.

Weather is what is happening in the atmosphere right now or in the next few days. Is it raining?

Is it hot or cold? This is weather.

Climate is the average weather over a long period of time — usually 30 years or more. Climate describes what the weather is normally like in a place.

For example, the climate of the Mediterranean is warm and dry. The climate of the UK is mild and rainy.

Right now, Europe is experiencing extreme weather: record-high temperatures in March. Is this climate change?

Scientists say that while individual weather events cannot be directly attributed to climate change, climate change makes extreme events more likely. Think of it like this: climate change is loading the dice.

Normally, you might roll a six once in every six rolls. But if the dice is loaded, you might roll a six one in every three rolls.

Climate change has 'loaded the dice' so that extreme heat events happen more often. The warming we see in Europe — approximately 1.

5 degrees above pre-industrial levels — means that what was once a very rare March heat event is now becoming more common.