Weather is the day to day variations in temperature, wind velocity, humidity, etc. Climate is the long term trends and past history of the above.
Much like the stock market, one day or even one year (weather) does not predict long term trends (climate).
Yep, and most fail to see that distinction. I haven't made my mind completely up yet about the climate debate, and I've heard enough over the past 4-5 years from engineers and scientists who make a living researching this kind of stuff. Lots of data that could easily convince you one way or the other.
One thing I think we can all easily agree on is that climate change is a reality (duh), as nothing is static. Whether we are warming or cooling is too difficult to say, and cannot be accurately determined for a long while. My best guess is that if we are in some sort of local minima as far as a graph of world temperatures go, though globally we are heading towards a maxima. While many think BCBrian is off his rocker (he sometimes is
), the polar ice sure as hell isn't melting itself.
