Climate Is Not Weather
Climate is the average pattern of weather in a place over decades. Weather is what happens today, and confusing the two is the commonest mistake in the subject.
Climate is the long-run pattern of temperature, rainfall and wind in a region, usually averaged over thirty years. Weather is what you look out of the window at. A cold week says nothing about climate, in the same way that one wet day says nothing about a country's rainfall.
- Long-term weather patterns. *A Mediterranean climate.*
- The general mood or conditions. *The current political climate.*
- A region defined by its weather. *Plants suited to cooler climates.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | climate | A temperate climate. |
| Adjective | climatic | Climatic conditions. |
| Noun | climatology | A degree in climatology. |
| Compound | climate change | Adapting to climate change. |
| Confusable | climactic | The climactic scene. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The region has a dry continental climate.A classification, not a description of today.
- In the present economic climate, few will invest.Figurative — the prevailing conditions.
- Climate change is measured over decades, not seasons.The distinction that the whole field rests on.
Climatic or climactic?
- Climatic — to do with climate: *climatic zones*
- Climactic — to do with a climax: *the climactic final act*
- The two are swapped often enough that careful editors check every instance
- A memory hook: climaCtiC has the C of Climax
From Greek *klima*, a slope or inclination — specifically the angle at which the sun's rays strike the earth. The Greeks divided the world into bands by that angle, and those bands became climate zones.
How long a period defines a climate?
The standard reference period used by meteorological agencies is thirty years.
Climate change or global warming?
Global warming names the rise in average temperature. Climate change is broader, covering rainfall, storms, sea level and ice as well.