Climate and Global Change

Warm near the equator and cold at the poles, our planet is able to support a variety of living things because of its diverse regional climates. The average of all these regions makes up Earth's global climate. Climate has cooled and warmed throughout Earth history for various reasons. Rapid warming like we see today is unusual in the history of our planet. The scientific consensus is that climate is warming as a result of the addition of heat-trapping greenhouse gases which are increasing dramatically in the atmosphere as a result of human activities.

Coral animals build reefs in warm, tropical seawater. However, <a href="/earth/changing_planet/ocean_temperatures_intro.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">seawater can be too warm</a> for their liking. If waters get too warm, coral animals lose the algae that live within their little bodies, a process called coral bleaching. Without the algae, corals have less nutrition. Unless cooler temperatures return, allowing algae to return, the coral dies.<p><small><em>Credit: UNC</em></small></p><a href="/earth/climate/cli_define.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">Regional climate</a> is the average weather pattern in a place over more than thirty years, including the variations in <a href="/earth/climate/cli_seasons.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">seasons</a>. The climate of a region depends on many factors including sunlight, altitude, topography, and proximity to oceans. Since the equatorial regions receive more sunlight than the poles, climate varies with <a href="/earth/climate/cli_latitude.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">latitude</a>. This image shows how sea surface temperatures change at different latitudes.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NOAA. Public domain.</em></small></p>Many forms of air pollution are human-made. Industrial plants, power plants and vehicles with internal combustion engines produce <a href="/earth/climate/nitrogen_airpollution.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">nitrogen oxides</a>, <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/vocs.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">VOCs</a>, <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/carbon_monoxide.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">carbon monoxide</a>, <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/carbon_dioxide.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">carbon dioxide</a>, <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/sulfur_oxides.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">sulfur dioxide</a> and <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/particulates.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">particulates</a>. Some of these gases are <a href="/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">greenhouse gases</a>, meaning that they retain heat in the Earth's atmosphere, due to the Earth's <a href="/earth/climate/earth_greenhouse.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">greenhouse effect</a>.<p><small><em>Image copyright UCAR</em></small></p>Scientists are concerned that melting Arctic sea ice will increase the amount of fresh water in the <a href="/earth/polar/arctic_currents.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">Beaufort Gyre</a>, which could spill out into the Atlantic and cause major climate shifts in North America and Western Europe. Watch the <a href="/earth/changing_planet/freshwater_arctic.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">Changing Planet: Fresh Water in the Arctic video</a>.<p><small><em> Courtesy of Jack Cook, WHOI (<a href="http://www.whoi.edu">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute</a>)</em></small></p><b><i>Looking for online resources about climate and climate change for your classroom?</i></b> Windows to the Universe is a free interlinked learning ecosystem to a wealth of resources on our site and elsewhere that support you on these topics, including <a href="/teacher_resources/climate_change_course.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">course readings</a>, <a href="/php/teacher_resources/activity.php#6">classroom activities and presentations</a>, and online interactives. Our <a href="/teacher_resources/climate.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/rain">Climate Change Education Resources page</a> provides links to content you can use right away in the classroom!<p><small><em> Ute Kaden/PolarTREC</em></small></p>A <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/2/024035/article">study</a> of over 40,000 written entries in Irish Annals and ice core measurements shows a strong correlation between <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/interior/eruptions.html">volcanic eruptions</a> and extreme cold weather in Ireland over a 1200 year period, from 431 to 1649. During this time up to 48 volcanic eruptions were identified in Greenland ice core records through deposition of volcanic sulfate in annual layers of ice. Find out more about <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climate/geosphere_volcanoes_influence_on_climate.html">volcanoes and climate</a>.<p><small><em>Image Courtesy of Marco Fulle</em></small></p>

Explore Climate and Global Change

What Is Climate?

Climate in your place on the globe is called regional climate. It is the average weather pattern ...Read more

What Controls the Climate System?

A factor that has an affect on climate is called a “forcing.” Some forcings, like volcanic ...Read more

Climates of the Past (Paleoclimates)

Climate change has affected the Earth throughout its 4.6 billion year history. The Earth has ...Read more

Our Changing Planet

Our planet is changing rapidly. Check out videos and lesson plans for key climate change indicators ...Read more

Effects of Climate Change Today

The world's surface air temperature increased an average of 0.6° Celsius (1.1°F) during the ...Read more

Climate Change in Polar Regions

The effects of climate change are not felt with the same intensity in all parts of the world. ...Read more

El Nino and Other Climate Events

Sometimes there is a disruption in Earth’s climate system that might last a few weeks or a ...Read more

The Role of Clouds in Climate

Clouds are an important part of Earth's weather and climate. Scientists use computer models ...Read more

Energy Choices and Climate Change

The choices we make about the sources of the energy we use and the amount of energy we use affect ...Read more

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The IPCC is a group of hundreds of experts from more than 100 countries ...Read more

Tackling the Global Warming Challenge

Earth’s climate is warming quickly and human activities are mostly to blame.  By releasing ...Read more

More about Climate and Global Change

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Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

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Moho
xMoho : The boundary between the crust and the mantle in the earth. This is a depth where seismic waves change velocity and there is also a change in chemical composition. Also termed the Mohorovicic' discontinuity after the Croatian seismologist Andrija Moh

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Research Highlights

Gulf Oil Spill: Mississippi River Hydrology May Help Reduce Oil Onshore

The Gulf of Mexico: what role will the Mississippi River play in oil washing ashore and into delta wetlands? One of the spill's greatest environmental threats is to Louisiana's wetlands, scientists believe....Read more


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