When it's raining in the morning, and you plan to leave the house to do some grocery shopping in the afternoon, you may think to grab an umbrella. You take it because you've noticed that it's raining and chances are, it will rain later, too. You've gathered information about your surroundings and reached a conclusion that reasonably predicts your afternoon: It will probably rain. When scientists make climate models, they do this — with an upgrade in complexity.
Of course, climate and weather are different concepts. While humans view and adapt to weather changes daily, the term climate describes the typical weather conditions over a long period of time (30 years or more). Thus, while modeling the climate has similarities to weather forecasting, there are different strategies involved.
