Confused about the difference between “climate” and “weather”?  You are not alone.  And with that confusion, it is easy to claim there is no climate warming when you are experiencing unusually cold weather in the winter.

So let’s resolve the confusion.

Getting technical, the Oxford dictionary defines “weather” as the state of the atmosphere at a place and time.  It defines “climate” as the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period. 

So the difference between the two is centered on time. Weather is the here and now. Climate is over a period of time.

When people say we are undergoing “climate change”, they are talking about the pattern of weather experienced over time.  One-time events such as an extremely cold snap or a few days of a heat wave are weather conditions.  However, repeated conditions over time represents climate.  Repeated climate differences from the past represents climate change.