Climate vs. Environment - VOA Learning English
Climate vs. Environment
Hi there. This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question about the difference between “environment” and “climate.”
Question:
Hello, VOA learning English,
My name is Sukhwant, and I am from India. I have a question about the difference between “environment” and “climate.”
Thank you so much,
Sukhwant
Answer:
Thank you, Sukhwant, for this important question!
“Climate” is part of the “environment.” Let’s look at the meanings of each.
Let’s start with “environment.”
Environment
“Environment” has many meanings.
Your “environment” can be everything that surrounds you. Different conditions and objects make up your environment.
My home environment is a peaceful place that includes my husband and my pets.
“Environment” can also be social and cultural elements that contribute to your life or a community.
The phrase “nature or nurture” describes the debate about whether your biology or your environment shapes you.
When we are talking about science, the “environment” is all the physical, biological and chemical conditions around you. The “environment” includes things like climate, geography, diversity of plants and animals and many other things. The environment affects the condition and survival of the things within it. And those things, likewise, affect the environment.
Deserts are environments with land features like sand or dry ground and extreme temperatures of hot and cold.
We must protect our environment.
Note that the word “environment” can be used in specific professions like computer science and linguistics, or the study of language.
Let’s move onto “climate.”
Climate
“Climate” has several different meanings. In science, “climate” is the overall weather pattern for an area over time. Climate includes amounts of rain and snow, temperatures and other weather conditions. Climate is part of the environment.
“Climate” also can describe an area that has a certain kind of climate.
She moved to the southern US last year for the warmer climate.
And lastly, “climate” can mean a general atmosphere or situation in a place or period.
The political climate of 1950s in the United States was marked by fears about the spread of communism.
Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Sukhwant.
Do you have a question about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.
And that’s Ask a Teacher.
I’m Faith Pirlo.
Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.
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Words in This Story
nurture – v. to take care of, feed and protect someone or something, especially young children or plants
diversity – adj. characteristics or qualities that are different
pattern – n. the regular and repeated way in which something happens or is done
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.