Weather is what happens outside your home this morning. Climate is what you can expect to happen outside during your 30-year mortgage. Over time small changes can make a big difference. Driven by tremendous flows of heat over the surface of the planet, Earth's climate system is influenced by innumerable interacting variables. Click on areas of the drawing below to find out more.
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Graphics and text from May 1998 National Geographic, Vol. 193, No. 5