Global warming or global cooling ? …

Dear Clever Cali,

How could global warming possibly be real if random days during the summertime are unusually cold? It’s been oddly cold in the summer several days this year. The temperature was much hotter this time last year. Doesn’t that indicate global cooling?

Sincerely,

Confused Clementine

Dear Confused Clementine,

They might seem similar, but weather and climate are quite different things. The key thing to remember is that weather is immediate or current, but climate is long-term. Small changes in seasonal weather patterns don’t play a big role in terms of climate, which is measured over long periods of time. If we observe long-term trends (this would be climate), we’d see that global temperatures have been rising at a rate of about 0.2˚C annually since the 70s. The thing to remember is that irregular weather can occur because of a single cold front, or another isolated phenomenon of that sort. Climate, on the other hand, indicates a consistent and regular pattern. Earth’s temperature is rising, according to most academics today. There are many things that can be done about that! Individuals can try to reduce their carbon footprint, since contributing to the amount of “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere can cause radiation from the sun to be trapped in Earth’s atmosphere. Great question! 🙂

Clever Cali