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2. What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is a short-term atmospheric condition determined by such parameters as
temperature, humidity, precipitation and wind. Weather describes the conditions at any
given moment in a specific place. For example, if it’s raining outside right now, that’s a way
to describe today’s weather. Rain, snow, wind, hurricanes, tornadoes — these all are
weather events.
Climate, on the other hand, is more than just one or two rainy days. Climate describes the weather
conditions that are expected in a region at a particular time of year. Is it usually rainy or usually dry? Is
it typically hot or typically cold? Climate describes the long-term pattern of weather in a particular
place, typically over 30 years or more.
3. What is climate change
Climate change is the large-scale, long-term shift in the planet's weather patterns such as
average temperatures across the world. Climate change describes a change in the typical
weather for a region — such as high and low temperatures and amount of rainfall — over
a long period.
3.1. Greenhouse effect
The greenhouse effect is a process in which gases in Earth's atmosphere trap the Sun's heat. This
process makes Earth much warmer than it would be without an atmosphere. The greenhouse effect is
one of the things that makes Earth a comfortable place to live.
Version for younger students
The greenhouse effect works … like a greenhouse! A greenhouse is a building with
glass walls and a glass roof. A greenhouse stays warm inside, even during the winter.
That's because the glass walls of the greenhouse trap the Sun's heat. In the daytime,
sunlight shines into the greenhouse and warms the plants and air inside. At nighttime,
it's colder outside, but the greenhouse stays pretty warm inside. Greenhouses are
used to grow plants, such as tomatoes and tropical flowers.
The greenhouse effect works much the same way on Earth. During the day, the Sun
shines through the atmosphere. Earth's surface warms up in the sunlight. At night,
Earth's surface cools, releasing heat back into the air. Gases in the atmosphere, such
as carbon dioxide, trap heat and stop it from escaping into space similar to the glass
roof of a greenhouse.
Paxi – The Greenhouse effect; movie for kids (different language versions)
https://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos/2018/05/Paxi_-_The_Greenhouse_Effect
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the
views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein.