Often, the terms weather and climate are used interchangeably. Climate is a system made up of many different factors including the Earth’s water, clouds, atmosphere, and temperature that all work together to produce weather. Weather refers to the state of the atmosphere in a particular place and time. Also, weather occurs over short time periods. For example, a meteorologist’s weather prediction usually forecasts days or weeks. Looking at weather change involves patterns over days, weeks, or months. While studying climate change requires studying long-term trends over 20, 50, or even 100 years. Weather affects many of our daily decisions. Climate affects long-term decisions and trends in plants and animals.
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