A look at weather extremes and the big-picture climate connections.
Subscribe to this blog via RSS

Science Made Simple: Take the Dog for a Walk

  • Published: January 5th, 2012
Repost This

Andrew Freedman By

Oftentimes scientists and journalists make the simplest of scientific concepts sound incredibly complicated. Take the difference between climate and weather, for example. The old adage is that "climate is what you expect, weather is what you get," since day-to-day weather may depart significantly from average conditions. But that doesn't really tell you much about how climate is measured over the long-term, or when weather ends and climate begins. The explanation I like best comes from the comedian Stephen Colbert, when, during a segment with Climate Central's Heidi Cullen, he said: "Is not climate just made up of thousands of little weathers?"

Now comes a delightfully clear cartoon posted on Youtube that uses a unique analogy — a man walking his dog — to describe the differences between weather and climate. It's simple, to the point, and best of all, adorable. Check it out. 

Follow the author on Twitter @afreedma or @ClimateCentral. We're also on Facebook & other social networks.

« Extreme Planet

Comments

By Stu Ostro (Atlanta, GA)
on January 5th, 2012

Where *exactly* does weather “end” and climate “begin”?  And what if the doggie’s deviations are increasingly large, frequent, and more in a particular direction?

By Andrew
on January 5th, 2012

Good questions, Stu. I think a global warming cartoon would depict an increasingly meandering dog, with the owner struggling to keep up smile

By Dave Snider (Eagle River, AK)
on January 5th, 2012

Great explanation… I’ll be sharing. 

And great point, Stu. 

Andrew, what if the dog is pulling a sled… with 9 other dogs?

By drjohn
on January 10th, 2012

It’s actually simpler than that.

When it’s hot, it’s climate change. When it’s cold, it’s weather.

By todd
on January 15th, 2012

drjohn, that is what an overzealous climate change campaigner might say. An overzealous climate change denier might say the opposite. A climate scientist statistically analyses the data and comes up with the same result as everyone else who statistically analyses the data… The climate is warming.

By Ann H Csonka (Herndon, Virginia 20170)
on February 2nd, 2012

THANK YOU!  This is great and I’ll share it widely because non-science people DO get confused.

Name (required):
Email (required):
City/State/Zip:
Enter the word "climate" in the box below:

[+] View our comment guidelines.

Please note: Comment moderation is enabled. Your comment will not appear until reviewed by Climate Central staff. Thank you for your patience.