Compare and contrast weather and climate and how the atmosphere affects both.

 

* The difference between weather and climate is a measure of time. Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere "behaves" over relatively long periods of time. ... In addition to long-term climate change, there are shorter term climate variations.

Step-by-step explanation

* Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy.  Weather refers to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate is the term for the averaging of atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time while Climate is the long-term average of weather, typically averaged over a period of 30 years. More rigorously, it denotes the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. 

* The atmosphere flows like a fluid with winds generated by temperature differences caused by a variety of factors, including incident and reflected sunlight. These winds collect moisture from the oceans and, when clouds form in regions of appropriate temperature and air pressure, drop the moisture back to the ground.

* The atmosphere is the layer of gases that surrounds Earth above the air layer. Its condition affects our climate, which is the pattern of variation in temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, precipitation, ultraviolet light, and other climate variables that occur over long periods.