Fifth Grade
Worksheets
Weather or Climate?
What is the difference between climate and weather? The simple answer is "time."
Weather is what is happening in the atmosphere, the mixture of gases around the Earth, at a certain time and place. Weather changes constantly. Air masses move. Fronts form when two air masses of different temperatures with different moisture contents meet. Then the weather will change. Often a front brings thunderstorms. Warm air rises. Cooler air sinks. It rains. It's sunny. Weather changes from day to day or from hour to hour.
Climate is the average weather in a place over a long time. Weather data is recorded for a number of years. Climate is the average weather that has been recorded. Earth has many different climate zones. Tropical climate zones lie on either side of the equator. Polar zones are found near the North and the South Poles. Temperate climates are not too hot or too cold. Desert climates don't receive much rainfall. Climate change is a trend of change in climate averages of the past.
