13 ms·
Disclaimer: I'm not knowledgeable in that topic. But from a general physics PoV: - weather is mostly about complex local interactions between air pressure / s
by dvdkhlng 6y ago
Disclaimer: I'm not knowledgeable in that topic. But from a general physics PoV:
- weather is mostly about complex local interactions between air pressure / surface temperature / air flow (convection) / humidity etc. these are described by differential equations with very chaotic behaviour (small changes in inputs may have extreme effects on the outputs the further you run the model)
- climate is more about long-time effects of the energy input/output of the whole planetary surface and atmosphere. Mostly solar radiation (input) vs. black-body radiation (output). There are also some complex interactions and feedback cycles e.g. change of albedo (cloud cover), and changes of atmospheric composition (i.e. methane due to permafrost melting), but local weather patterns may cancel out when looking at the sum-total of surface thermal energy.
- Geminidog 6y agoClimate is also a more macro level view of a system. Think Entropy. Imagine Oxygen molecules in a box. The individual movements are complex and unpredictable but at a very high level macro view we can see all of these movements in aggregate as temperature. Temperature is not only much more stable then the chaotic movements of individual atoms but it is predictable and controllable. I can heat a kettle of water to a very specific temperature and I can accurately predict the rate in which it will cool down when I stop heating it. I cannot however control or predict the actions of specific molecules within the kettle. The lower level you go the more chaotic things become. The higher you go the more deterministic things appear to be.