PHENOMENA | TEMPORAL SCALE | WEATHER OR CLIMATE? |
|---|---|---|
Cloudiness, rain shower, rainbow, sea breeze, tornado | Hours | Weather |
Nigh | Days | Weather |
Hurricane, midlatitude cyclone | Weeks | Weather |
Winter, hurricane season, drought | Months | Climate |
Asian monsoon | One year | Climate |
El Niño and La Niña | Years to decades | Climate |
Younger Dryas* | 1,000 to 10,000 years | Climate |
Quaternary* glacial and interglacial cycles | 10,000 to 1,000,000 years | Climate |
Cenozoic* cooling | Millions of years | Climate |
*These terms will be defined in Section 6.2. | ||