More Info about Climate and Weather

Courtesy of Merriam-Webster...

Weather: the state of the atmosphere with respect to heat or cold, wetness or dryness, calm or storm, clearness or cloudiness

Climate: the average course or condition of the weather at a place usually over a period of years as exhibited by temperature, wind velocity, and precipitation

And from Wikipedia...

Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth's global climate or in regional climates over time. It describes changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by processes internal to the Earth, external forces (e.g. variations in sunlight intensity) and, more recently, human activities.

Vermont Climate Witness is a place for sharing anything that relates to weather and climate in the State of Vermont. By weather, we mean any observations from a particular instant (whether that is today, a week ago, or years ago). By climate, we mean any trends you have observed. In both cases, evidence from journals, photographs and video clips are a great addition to any post. Also, please post about the different indicators that represent weather and climate - the ranges of wild plants and animals, the growing or skiing season, etc.

While a single person's observations of unseasonable weather don't prove anything about climate change, we think that many people sharing many observations over time could be pretty interesting. We hope you think so too.

For more information about weather in Vermont see:

The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Burlington - a great resource for current conditions and weather forecasts

The Eye on the Sky - view and listen to forecasts and other detailed weather information from the VPR/Fairbanks Museum meteorology team

Weathering Heights - the website of WDEV meteorologist Roger Hill, which is full of links to webcams and other resources

To learn more about Vermont's climate visit:

Vermont State Climate Office - an archive of climate data managed by Dr. Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux, UVM professor and State Climatologist

To learn more about climate change check out:

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the scientific panel created by the World Meteorological Organization and United Nations Environmental Programme which received a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change" -- a great resource for understanding the state of our knowledge regarding human-driven changes to the global climate

To view climate observations from ordinary people around the world go to:

WWF-International Climate Witness Programme - a global initiative to document the stories of people feeling the impact of climate change