Extreme weather and my weather report

A meteorologist compares forecasts with real weather to see how good the forecast was. You can do the same for five days. First, a grown-up finds a five-day forecast for your town. Then, starting on the same day, you record the real temperature, rain, wind and a word such as sunny or cloudy in a table. After five days, compare each day: did the forecast match what really happened? Forecasts are usually better for tomorrow than for five days away, because small errors grow. Your own measurements are evidence, so write what you saw, not what you hoped. There is also a long-term problem. Over many years the world is slowly getting warmer, ice melts and warm sea water expands, so sea level rises a little. Low coasts, such as parts of Egypt’s northern coast, may face more flooding in the future. Scientists and engineers are studying this and planning ways to protect coasts.