Why is climate easier to predict than weather?

Question

When people make the comment that if we can not predict weather a couple of days from now, how can we predict it 100 years from now, the answer is always there is a difference between climate and weather.

So what makes climate easier to predict? Do we have such a good understanding of the earth's climate that we can make such predictions? If so why are the oceans cooling and not warming like the models predict? Why did nobody make such a prediction?

Answer 1

We are able to predict weather over a period of about 4 days with astounding accuracy. Going out 14 days is not nearly as astounding.

Climate is not really predictable. What we can predict is the effect of a few variables on climate change. For example, we may properly predict that certain cycles are likely to persist, know approximately how various cyclical changes will influence climate. We can predict how certain global effects will make small changes in for instance temperature. But we are not able to say with Any confidence that we will or will not  have a string of volcanoes erupt. We can know when we have those eruptions and see how high they put dust into the air, what effects those things will have on climate.

But short term weather predictions are much easier, more reliable. Predicting long term climate shifts is still very useful. We do it to anticipate changes that are likely to affect us, yet we also have to add ot our models events that can not be entirely anticipated.

Answer 2

climate is long term and weather is short term... if you look at it variations in temp. are easier to predict from past temps. and cycling, where weather is very variable on an hour to hour basis...

Answer 3

Because weather changes from time to time while climate changes by season.

Answer 4

Actually it's not.  Climatologists tend to restrict themselves to producing theories about why the climate has done something in the past rather than what it will do in the future.  

They have a lot of names and complex theories for climate systems, but they don't seem to be able to predict climate with any accuracy at all.  It's not like they expected the temperature to remain constant for 10 years or that they predicted the recent cooling.

Answer 5

climate is steadier and more stable, it changes gradually over years as opposed to changing drastically from day to day like weather.