Let’s be honest: climate changes.  Before “global warming,” we were worried about “global cooling.”  Politicians and bureaucrats got involved in the discussion.  The media started talking about it, and eventually obsessing over it.  And now, somehow one’s political affiliations presumably defines his/her stance on it.

The phrase “climate change” has gone from a simple description to a hot button topic, which in the minds of many encompasses more than just the weather.  Everyone has an opinion and everyone thinks he/she is right.  So now you can’t discuss a heat wave,  blizzard, tornado outbreak, or hurricane without someone going on a tangent about climate change.  Often those tangents lead to heated discussions that become politically charged and occasionally those debates dwindle into name calling and hurt feelings.

What happened?  Nevermind what happened.  We as meteorologists and climatologists need to take the climate back.  I’d be happy if the politicians and bureaucrats would stay out of the debate, but at this point in the game, that’s asking too much.  What is a more reasonable goal is educating the public on how humans adapt – how we’ve adapted through the ages and how with continuing advancements in technology we can adapt in the future.

There are plenty of ways to adapt our behaviors on both small and large scales with potentially great long-term results for everyone involved.  These changes go beyond just the weather and will positively affect our quality of life.  For example, in drought, there are rain catchers.  For storm runoff in urban areas, there are permeable pavers and rain gardens.  Regarding electricity, there are solar panels, wind turbines, and hydroelectricity.  Don’t forget geothermal technology and simpler ideas like basic composting and smart agriculture.  Most of these are not new ideas, but they are novel to many people.  If we can educate and encourage more of the population about options such as these as well as energy star rated appliances, environmentally friendly building techniques, etc., and make them affordable, then we can make a difference in a bigger way than tying up resources in government and bureaucracy.

The more a phrase becomes politically charged, the more close-minded people become to it.  As it stands now, you can’t have a conversation about being good stewards of our natural resources without concern that someone will assume they know your political leaning. My political viewpoint is my business.  Yours is your business.  The weather, earth, air quality and water quality are everybody’s business.  There is a natural tendency for people to rebel and question authority without thinking through why laws and edicts are enacted.  People are more likely to do the right thing concerning all of the above if they are taught how and why (and if the choice is economically feasible) rather than having it dictated to them or legislated for them.

We need to take the word climate back from the politicians and pundits and return it to the realm of the weather world.  Doing so will clear the way for us to have open and honest discussions about our options without fear of social and political reprisals.  After all, if all parties are not participating without fear in a conversation, then all parties are not being honestly represented.

Definition from the AMS Glossary of Meteorology

While this definition is very wordy, the idea is straight forward. Climate is the word used to describe the average weather of a location over a relatively longer period of time, which could be a month, a season, a year, or more.  The climate of a place is a snapshot of what could be considered “normal” for that place. 

Editor’s note: As this definition explains, “the concept of climate has  broadened and evolved in recent decades,” and in the process “climate” has unfortunately become a politically charged word.  More on that issue in an upcoming blog post.

Definition from the AMS Glossary of Meteorology

 normal—1. Referring to a normal distribution. 2. Regular or typical in the sense of lying within the limits of common occurrence, but sometimes denoting a unique value, as a measure of central tendency.

Either sense presupposes a stable probability distribution. 3. As usually used in meteorology, the average value of a meteorological element over any fixed period of years that is recognized as a standard for the country and element concerned.

Often erroneously interpreted by the general public as meaning the weather patterns that one should expect. In the broadest sense, “normals” should consist of a suite of descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency (e.g., mean, median), range (e.g., standard deviation, interquartile range, extremes), variation, and frequency of occurrence. At the International Meteorological Conference at Warsaw in 1935, the years 1901–30 were selected as the international standard period for normals. Recommended international usage is to recalculate the normals at the end of every decade using the preceding 30 years. This practice is used to take account of the slow changes in climate and to add more recently established stations to the network with observed normals. Normals should be based on actual observations if available; otherwise a recognized method should be used to “reduce” shorter series to the normal period by comparison with neighboring stations. Recognized methods of adjusting for inhomogeneities should be used to account for breaks or gradual changes introduced into the data record by changes in the hours of observation, in the observational practices, in the site or instruments used, or by a gradual change in the character of the surrounding country, such as the growth of a city. The years covered by a normal should always be clearly stated, since averages for different periods of the same length are rarely the same. See climatological standard normals.

This is a very long and detailed definition.  Typically, when we talk about “normal” in meteorology, we are talking about the second part of it, and usually it is in the sense of climate.  Many people don’t realize that “normal” in regards to climatology is a 30 year average, and that average can change at the beginning of every decade.  So when you look at the almanac data for a particular day in a specific city and you see the “normal” or “average” high temperature for that day, you are looking at an average taken from 30 years of data for that day.

This fact should have implications for how we understand daily temperatures and how they fall in line, or don’t fall in line, with what is “normal.”  As time moves on, what is “normal” changes at least one decade at a time.  So really “normal” is a relative term.

Definition from the American Meteorological Society’s Glossary of Meteorology

In plain English, a front is a boundary layer between two different air masses.  We most often hear the term used in the case of a warm front, which is the leading edge of a warmer air mass, or a cold front, the leading edge of a colder air mass.  The front is the harbinger of the change in weather.  When a front does not move, it’s called “stationary.”  When it becomes cut off from the rest of the air circulation pattern, it is called “occluded.” 

As whatever-weather.com closes our second year online, we’re making a few more tweaks to the site and adding some new features.  In recent months, we started a new video feature called “What’s your weather research?”  We plan to continue that one.  It’s goal is to educate the interested public, meteorologists and weather enthusiasts alike, about what students and researchers across the country are studying regarding our weather and climate, and at the same time, to give those researchers an opportunity to showcase their work on a larger stage.

Our next addition will be a regular feature on our blog titled “What’s That Weather Word?”  In it you will get the official definition of a meteorological term followed by a translation into plain English.  If you, are interested in a specific weather term, please comment on the blog, or email us through our contact page.  We’ll be sure to include your request in a future entry.

We are also working on a few more items to be added soon.  Stay tuned to see what’s next!