Weather is not climate …

…but the prevalent climatic conditions in a given region form a frame within which the weather evolves.

Our environment doesn’t change with each change of the weather; and the weather is always changing.

But over time, at least decennia and centuries, the environment will be under the influence of climate changes: fauna and flora, soil organic content, biodiversity, glaciers, lakes and other water reservoirs are long term products of the climate.

There is no “World Climate” but rather zones with climatic patterns:  temperate, continental, arid or semi-arid, tropical, etc.

Temperature, air humidity, prevalent winds, rainfalls, and cloud coverage are parameters used to characterize the weather at a given point of time. Long time series of these parameters and other underlying ones in the atmosphere, on land surface and in the oceans enable an observation of climatic variations.

Since about 30 years the question has been raised about on-going climate changes, their impact on living conditions, and the extent to which human activities are a contributing factor.

And hefty debates are taking place on the underlying science, on correlative and predictive models, on consequences of climate changes, and on corrective actions to be taken, or not, to mitigate negative impacts resulting from the anticipated changes.

Climate changes all the time since the Earth exists. We don’t know what a desirable climate is; neither can we determine if and how changes will have a positive or a negative outcome for life on Earth, in particular human life. But we always are afraid of any change, because of its uncertain outcome.

The purpose of this document is to present the author’s understanding about this complex issue.
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