Understanding Weather, Climate, and Climate Change

Weather: Refers to the various phenomena occurring in the atmosphere of Earth or another planet.

Climate: Represents the set of mean values of weather conditions that characterize a region. These average values are obtained by collecting weather information over a sufficiently long period.

When discussing the world, an area or region, or a particular locality, we refer to global climate, zonal, regional, or local climate (microclimate), respectively.

Factors Modifying Climate

• Latitude: The angular distance between the Equator and a point on the planet. Latitude is measured in degrees (°), between 0 and 90, and can be represented as positive (North) or negative (South).
• Altitude: The vertical distance from a given origin, typically the average sea level. In meteorology, altitude influences temperature, with a decrease of approximately 1°C every 180 meters.
• Mass of Water (Oceans): Oceans significantly impact regional and global climate patterns.
• Vegetation: The plant life in a place or region influences local climate conditions.
• Distance to the Sea: Coastal areas experience different climate conditions compared to inland regions.
• Heat: Energy transferred between two bodies or systems, associated with the movement of atoms, molecules, and other particles.
• Ocean Currents: Translational motion, continuity, and permanence of a given body of water in the oceans (and, to a lesser extent, larger seas). These currents are influenced by Earth's rotation, wind patterns, and the configuration of coastlines and continents.
• Rivers: A continuous and substantial stream of water.

Climate Change

Climate Change: Refers to long-term fluctuations in temperature, precipitation, wind, and other climate components on Earth.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change defines it as "a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods."

Climate Changes in the Past

• The Weak Sun Paradox
• The Greenhouse Effect in the Past
• The Regulatory Climate CO₂
• Life Appears on Earth
• The Pleistocene Glaciations
• The Maunder Minimum