UNIT 3: What is weather and climate and how they are measured.

Have a look to this video and think about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BY678u2FC0


Weather & Climate 1 of 5

Have a look!

Weather and Climate 1 of 5. Transcription.

So, what is the difference between weather and climate?

Do you think they are the same thing?

Think about it again.

We used to say words to describe them.

But they are still differences between weather and climate.

Weather is about short term and climate is about long term

If you look out the window now: maybe it’s raining, maybe it’s sunny, maybe it’s snowing.

That’s what it’s like  TODAY.

It doesn’t mean it will be like that tomorrow.

That’s right. The weather is what you see out of  the window.

But climate is the average weather over a long period of time.

That’s the difference between weather and climate.

Weather is a short term thing. It’s what you get in one particular day, but climate is something else, it’s the average weather over a long period of time, maybe thirty years or more.

In some parts of the world, the climate has a definite pattern.

For example, at the Equator it’s hot and wet all year around.

In Greece, on the other hand, summers are sunny and dry and winters are likely to be wet and colder.

So, what about Britain?

You never know what is going to happen here.

You’re right. In Britain, it can rain anytime of the year, and temperature is always different.

That’s right. Someone once said. “Britain has no climate, only weather.”

And that is why we are always talking about it.

But why is it like that?

Why is Britain’s climate so changeable?

Why doesn’t it  have a set pattern like Ghana or like Greece.

Britain

Well, that’s because Britain has what is called a maritime climate. Being an island everywhere is close to the sea, and sea has a great effect on the climate.

We will see how it works later.

There are many other types of climate.

§  Tropical climate like in Western Africa.

§  Desert Climate like in Arabia

§  Mediterranean Climate like in Sicily

§  Continental Climate like in the USA

§  Equatorial Climate like in Indonesia and so on.

In this part we’ve learnt the weather is the day-to-day date condition of the atmosphere and climate is the average weather over a long period of time about thirty years.