Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act Weather vs. Climate Page

The difference between weather and climate is constantly mistaken by Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) advocates.  This page references my evaluations of climatic effects that turned out to be weather events and examples of climate hype by other authors.

Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act Section 1, Legislative findings and declaration states:

1. 1. Climate change is adversely affecting economic well-being, public health, natural resources, and the environment of New York. The adverse impacts of climate change include:
      1. an increase in the severity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as storms, flooding, and heat waves, which can cause direct injury or death, property damage, and ecological damage (e.g., through the release of hazardous substances into the environment);

The standard agenda for CLCPA Climate Action Council meetings includes co-chair remarks and reflections as the first topic.  The latest climate related announcements from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo are always included and if there was any extreme weather since the last meeting that event is called out as proof that climate change is happening now.

In both the legislation and the meetings weather and climate are confused.  According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service “Weather reflects short-term conditions of the atmosphere while climate is the average daily weather for an extended period of time at a certain location.”  The referenced article goes on to explain “Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.”  Also keep in mind that the standard climatological average is 30 years.  In order to think about a change in today’s climate averages you really should compare the current 30 years against the previous 30 years.  In order to get a trend, you need to look at as much data as possible.  On the face of it that might seem easy but the reality is that the conditions for a representative trend are difficult to achieve.  Ideally you need to use the same instruments, the same methodology, and keep the conditions around the observing location the same.

The following references describe evaluations of weather events touted as proof of climate change that upon closer examination proved to be anecdotal observations not supported by climate records.

• Great Lakes Vineyard Confronts Climate Change – My 12/3/17 post addressed climatic trends affecting Western NY vineyards
• NYS Climate and Community Protection Act Rationale – I looked at the extreme weather rationale of the proposed New York Climate Act on 4/15/19
• CLUELESS! NY Gov. Cuomo Says There Were No Hurricanes Before Global Warming – On 11/5/19 Paul Homewood eviscerated Cuomo’s comment that “we did not use to have hurricanes, we did not have super storms, we did not have tornadoes” in a MSNBC interview
• Cuomo’s Fake Claims About Extreme Rainfall – Paul Homewood evaluated the claim that extreme rainfall is getting worse in New York on 11/5/19
• Hay Harvest Climate Trend? My 11/25/19 post looked at the claim that climate change affects hay harvesting in Upstate NY
• Rare Snow Storms Today are Blatantly Obvious, Not – My post on 2/3/20 checked out claims that snowstorms have changed in Upstate NY
• Frustrations of a Meteorologist in Today’s Times – My 9/19/20 post addressed Western US wildfires.
• Hurricane Season 2020 – you know the one with the most named storms ever!
  • 2020 Hurricane Season Recap – (12/1/20) Roger Pielke, Jr.
  • How Busy Was the 2020 Hurricane Season? – (12/11/20) Neil Frank, former director of the National Hurricane Center
• Climate Realism called out an article in the Auburn, NY newspaper.  Objective data analysis shows that the claim that farmers are being affected by droughts and heatwaves is contradicted by climatic data.

Dr. Roy Spencer: Short, easily understandable brochures that support the general view that there is no climate crisis or climate emergency, and pointing out the widespread misinformation being promoted by alarmists through the media.

• • • Introduction(Dr. David Legates)
    • The Sun Climate Connection(Drs. Michael Connolly, Ronan Connolly, Willie Soon)
    • Systematic Problems in the Four National Assessments of Climate Change Impacts on the US(Dr. Patrick Michaels)
    • Record Temperatures in the United States(Dr. John Christy)
    • Radiation Transfer(Dr. William Happer)
    • Is There a Climate Emergency(Dr. Ross McKitrick)
    • Hurricanes and Climate Change(Dr. Ryan Maue)
    • Climate, Climate Change, and the General Circulation(Dr. Anthony Lupo)
    • Can Computer Models Predict Climate(Dr. Christopher Essex)
    • The Faith-Based Nature of Human-Caused Global Warming(Dr. Roy Spencer)