On Dec 20, 9:00*pm, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 19:52:57 -0800 (PST), oriel36

wrote:
It is all far too complicated to even begin detailing the difference
between climate and meteorology...

It's not complicated at all. Climate is the average weather pattern over
some area and some time. Meteorology is the study of weather and
climate. I can't imagine any confusion there.
_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatoryhttp://www.cloudbait.com

The background conditions for climate are set by the motions of the
Earth around the central Sun whereas hemispherical weather patterns
(seasonal weather patterns) are a subset but cannot dictate a global
picture.

I won't even ask you what causes seasonal variations in daylight/
darkness,the barest descriptive effects of the annual and daily
rotational motions of the Earth,for I know you will blurt out 'axial
tilt' like a good Caltechie.

There are two,I repeat, two 360 degree motions with respect to the
central Sun - daily rotation which causes the day and night cycle and
the slow 360 degree change with respect to the central Sun,intrinsic
to the planet itself over and above orbital motion.The fact that you
can actually see this orbital component in action appears to make no
difference but today on the Solstice,the slow 360 degree orbital
turning of the planet generates the greatest distance between the
daily rotational axis and the circle of illumination rather than
having the Earth 'tilt'.