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It is easy to think of climate as the weather at a particular place over a long period of time. And that is generally true. The climate of a region is determined by taking measurements of the day to day weather over a long period of time. For example, we know that the average mean yearly temperature for Danbury is almost exactly 50 degrees. This was determined by taking the temperature every day of the year for many decades.
The climate of a region is not just represented by its averages, but also it's extremes. It has been proven historically that in our region of the world we get hurricanes, blizzards, ice storms, thunderstorms, heat waves and bitter cold snaps. It is easy to see the importance of knowing the climate of the region in addition to the forecast. It better prepares us for what to expect, the typical weather and extremes alike.
However it is important to know that climate changes, just like the weather, but over a much greater period of time. Of growing concern recently is whether man-made pollutants are actually affecting climate. We've all heard of global warming, but no one actually knows to what extent humans are contributing to the sudden rise in the Earth's average temperature. There is no doubt that the Earth is warming up, the doubt lies in whether people are playing a role in it.
In addition, recent studies have shown that telecommunication patterns have a very significant effect on our climate. El Nino/Southern Oscillation is the most famous telecommunication pattern, but there are many more that also alter our climate. This area of meteorology/climatology has been studied in the more recent past, and many questions remain as to what causes these oscillations, and what interaction they have with global warming.
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