Speaking of extremely frigid temperatures this winter and early spring, in certain parts of the U.S., Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said, "It's cold. Al Gore told me this wouldn't Happen. Global warming obviously is a farce."
Senator Cruz said this to members of the press and a few fellow republican Senators as he was leaving his office. The press and Senators collectively laughed and nodded their heads.
But Jeanie Smith, 12, who was touring the Senate Office Building with her classmates, overheard Cruz and rushed over to him.
"That's not funny and all of you should be ashamed of yourselves for laughing. Don't you know the difference between climate and weather?" she asked the group of her elders.
After there was silence she explained that, "The difference between weather and climate is a measure of time. Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere 'behaves' over relatively long periods of time."
"So what?" asked one of the Senators.
"So, this year parts of the U.S. have been unseasonably cold, other parts have been unseasonably hot. That's weather. Over the past decades the earth has been growing a lot hotter. That's climate. That's why global warming is a fact, and why Al Gore is right," said the twelve-year-old."
"I don't get it," said the Senator who asked the question of Ms. Smith. "Neither do I," said Ted Cruz.
"Of course you don't, you're politicians," said Jeanie as she skipped down the Senate Office hallway.
