By Lauren Klein via Iris.xyz
If, like I do, you happen to live—or at least spend time—in Southern California, you know that there are two topics on everyone’s lips at the moment: Donald Trump, and the torrential rain.
Depending on who you happen to be talking to at the moment, either topic is sure to elicit one of two responses: optimism… or sheer panic. In both cases, taking a look at the differences between climate and weather can help quell the storm.
Here in Southern California, we live in a desert. Despite our earnest efforts to pretend we live in a climate that can support lush lawns and the greenest gardens, our Mediterranean climate is dry in the summer, nearly every summer. Our winters can be wet, but not always. And while shifts in the atmosphere may bring short-term changes to the weather, our physical location on the planet is what drives our climate—which, if it changes at all, changes extremely slowly over thousands of years.
Click here to read the full story on Iris.xyz.