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This portion of the site has been created to inform Canadians about
the science of climate change. What are its causes? How long has
climate change been happening? Can anything be done to stop this
trend? Governments and experts across Canada are examining the impacts,
costs and benefits of addressing climate change.
Definitions
Before going further into our Web site, we would like to invite
you to read the following definitions in order to better grasp the
concepts that are referred to in this Web site.
Climate
The average weather (usually taken over a 30-year time period)
for a particular region and time period. Climate is not the same
as weather, but rather, it is the average pattern of weather for
a particular region. Weather describes the short-term state of the
atmosphere. Climatic elements include precipitation, temperature,
humidity, sunshine, wind velocity, phenomena such as fog, frost,
and hailstorms, and other measures of the weather.
Weather and Meteorology
Meteorology is the science that studies the processes and phenomena
of the atmosphere. Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a given
time and place with regard to temperature, air pressure, humidity,
wind, cloudiness, and precipitation. The term weather is used mostly
for conditions over short periods of time.
Climate Change (UF Global Warming)
Human activities are altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere
through the build-up of greenhouse gases that trap heat and reflect
it back to the earth's surface. This is resulting in changes to
our climate, including a rise in global temperatures and more frequent
extreme weather events.
For more definitions of terms please visit Environment Canada's
glossary at
Links to sites external to Environment Canada
Links to sites external to Environment Canada (EC) are provided
as a convenience and their inclusion in no way implies that Environment
Canada endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content or
use of these sites. As the organizations that maintain these sites
may not be subject to the Official Languages Act, information found
on these sites may be presented only in the language in which it
was written.
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