This document discusses the concepts of climate and weather. It defines climate as the statistics of weather over long periods of time, measured by variables like temperature, humidity, and precipitation patterns. Weather is defined as the short-term atmospheric conditions in a given place. The climate of Nepal varies significantly by region, from cool summers and severe winters in the north, to tropical summers and mild winters in the south. The Kathmandu Valley has a pleasant climate with average summer temperatures of 19-35°C and winter temperatures of 2-12°C.

1. Unit IV- Climate Change
Concept of Climate and Weather
Ramanand Pandit, PhD Scholar

2. Contents
• Concept of climate
• Concept of weather
• Weather, climate and climate variability
• Climate of Nepal

3. Concept of Climate
• Climate is the statistics of weather over long
periods of time.
• It is measured by assessing the patterns of
variation in temperature, humidity, atmospheric
pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric
particle count and other meteorological variables
in a given region over long periods of time.
• Climate differs from weather, in that weather
only describes the short-term conditions of these
variables in a given region.

4. • A region's climate is generated by the climate
system, which has four components:
• atmosphere,
• hydrosphere,
• lithosphere, and
• Biosphere.

5. Concept of weather
• Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the
degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or
stormy, clear or cloudy.
• Most weather phenomena occur in the lowest
level of the atmosphere, the troposphere, just
below the stratosphere.
• Weather refers to day-to-day temperature
and precipitation activity, whereas climate is the
term for the averaging of atmospheric conditions
over longer periods of time.

6. Weather, climate and climate
variability
The terms weather and climate often are used
interchangeably, but they actually represent
different parts of the same spectrum.
Weather is the day-to-day changing
atmospheric conditions.
Climate is the average state of the
atmosphere.
Climate is what you expect and weather is
what you get.

7. • Climate change is a change in the statistical
distribution of weather patterns when that
change lasts for an extended period of time.
• Climate change may refer to a change in
average weather conditions, or in the time
variation of weather around longer-term
average conditions.

8. CLIMATE OF NEPAL
• Climatic conditions of Nepal vary from one
place to another in accordance with their
geographical features.
• In the north summers are cool and winters
severe, while in the south summers are
tropical and winters are mild.
• Nepal has five seasons: spring, summer,
monsoon, autumn and winter.

9. • In the Terai (south Nepal), summer temperatures
exceed 37° C and higher in some areas, winter
temperatures range from 7°C to 23°C in the Terai.
• In mountainous regions, hills and valleys,
summers are temperate while winter
temperatures can plummet under sub zero.
• The Kathmandu Valley has a pleasant climate
with average summer and winter temperatures of
19°C – 35°C and 2°C – 12°C respectively.

10. References
• 1. Planton, Serge (France; editor) (2013). "Annex
III. Glossary: IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change" (PDF). IPCC Fifth Assessment
Report. p. 1450. Retrieved 25 July 2016
• Shepherd, Dr. J. Marshall; Shindell, Drew;
O'Carroll, Cynthia M. (1 February 2005). "What's
the Difference Between Weather and
Climate?". NASA. Retrieved 13 November 2015
• https://www.welcomenepal.com/plan-your-
trip/climate.html