Meteorology is perhaps the most often viewed yet least understood science. It has been the subject of daily conversation since speaking was a concept, and yet few have actually delved deeper than the phrase, "If you don't like the weather around here, wait five minutes." It is the only science that is seen by all as if in an Earth-sized stadium, no laboratory required, compelling us to learn more and at the same time so distant. It is not the foremost science on the checklist of college placement exams; It is not even on the list of sciences recommended to be taught to students eager to excel in college and indeed the world. How could something so often talked about and constantly experienced be allowed to leave so many clueless? Let's hope the buck stops here.

    Meteorology has been defined over the centuries in different ways by different groups. Many have feared it's power and attached a spiritual fervor to it, all of a sudden now requiring favor and appeasement. Others have dared to study it, but hopelessly ill-equipped to assess a system seemingly larger than life.

    The concept of "Meteorology" first appeared around 340 B.C. where Aristotle, the Greek thinker, decided to chisel his thoughts down on meteorology (in addition to anything else), similar to how someone would pen thoughts in a diary. Aristotle was clever, really clever, but really wrong. Early assumptions, and perhaps church ordered mandates, of the day hopelessly prevented him from even getting close to an understanding of meteorology, nevertheless his work stands as the 'first-stab' at an entire field of study that would baffle most more than 2300 years later.

Meteorology - The study of the atmosphere and its phenomena.
Atmosphere - The envelope of gases that surround a planet and are held to it by that planet's gravitational forces.
Weather - The condition of the atmosphere at any particular time and place, specifically how it relates to human life and interaction.

    All planets in the solar system, and perhaps all celestial bodies that have even the smallest of atmospheres, have weather. It occurs at all times and all places, and it has only one goal in mind: Balance.

    In our solar system, we have only one real large heat source: The sun (oddly enough). Of course, the Earth is also a heat source, and it effects our weather locally, but it doesn't do much to heat even the moon. The sun exerts more than just its gravitational force on the planets that revolve around it, but also sends its radiation outward such that all planets experience a proportional amount based on its distance away.

Notice how some planets have a similar ingredient in its atmosphere to Earth, perhaps others have a similar atmospheric pressure, but it is the exact combination of atmospheric ingredients, pressure, and distance from the sun that enables life and weather on the Earth.

The Sun, because it has a temperature, emits radiation, and that radiation emanates in all directions, therefore towards Earth. To a good approximation, that radiation hits the Earth at an angle perpendicular to the closest point it has with the Sun. That radiation heats the Earth's surface, and causes a temperature difference between that heated area, and the surrounding regions that aren't being heated. As a result, just as water rises to it's own level, so must an atmosphere work to equilibrate that temperature across its entire form. Any attempts at restoring that balance is the weather we see each day.

Climate

The word "climate has its roots in both Latin and Greek, depending on which language you prefer, both refer to the concept of "incline" or "slope". Early geographers from the 14th century thought it useful to divide the Earth (oddly enough to them shaped like a pyramid...and apparently having only one side) into zones marked by the sun's average angle to the Earth's surface. Certain cities would be in a zone of 42 degrees, others 50 degrees, etc. For all this ingenuity, one has to award an "E" for effort, but alas, the science in it is lacking. The concept of the slope, through an amazing stroke of luck, is nearly correct, when referring to the axis of the Earth's tilt. It is precisely the tilt of the Earth on it's axis, and thus an always differing portion of the Earth receiving direct sunlight, yet roughly the same on a yearly basis, that provides the foundation for all climate.