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.

Roaming across Arctic <a href="/earth/polar/sea_ice.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">sea ice</a>, <a href="/earth/polar/polar_bears_jan07.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">polar bears</a> peer through cracks in the ice to look for ringed seals, their favorite food, in the water below. Almost all of a polar bear's food comes from the sea. The <a href="/earth/polar/sea_ice.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">floating sea ice</a> is a perfect vantage point for the bears as they hunt for food. Unfortunately, the amount of sea ice floating in the <a href="/earth/polar/polar_north.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">Arctic region</a> is shrinking each year, and getting farther apart.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Ansgar Walk. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.</em></small></p>Although we humans have never experienced fast <a href="/earth/climate/climate.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">global warming</a>, our planet has. And our planet keeps records of what happened. The oldest records that the <a href="/earth/earth.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">Earth</a> keeps are in its <a href="/earth/geology/sed_intro.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">rocks</a>. In this image, <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/methane_28may08.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">geologists Chris von der Borch and Dave Mrofka</a> collect sediment samples in South Australia. These rocks hold clues to help explain why climate changed abruptly 635 million years ago.<p><small><em> Courtesy of Martin Kennedy, UCR</em></small></p>Greenland's <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/polar/cryosphere_glacier1.html">ice sheet</a> saw a record <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/headline_universe/olpa/greenland_10dec07.html">melt</a> in July 2012. Scientists studying this event have found that this melting event was triggered by an influx of unusually warm air and amplified by the presence of a blanket of thin low-level <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/cloud.html">clouds</a> which pushed temperatures up above freezing. For more information see the <a href="http://www.news.wisc.edu/21638">press release</a> from the University of Wisconsin Madison.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison</em></small></p>As temperatures rise and soil moisture decreases, plants are stressed, which can lead to <a href="/earth/climate/crops_withering.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">crop withering</a>. <a href="/teacher_resources/online_courses/health/events_health.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">Droughts</a> accompanied by increased temperatures can lead to famine, social and political disruptions. Scientists are helping with early identification of drought that might trigger food shortages. Watch the NBC Learn video - <a href="/earth/changing_planet/withering_crops_intro.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">Changing Planet: Withering Crops</a> to find out more.<p><small><em>Image taken by Tomas Castelazo, Creative Commons <a href=&quot;http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en&quot;>Attribution 3.0 Unported</a> license.</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&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">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&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/vocs.html">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?

The climate where you live is called regional climate. It is the average weather in a place ...Read more

What Controls the Climate System?

Some of the factors that have an affect on climate, like volcanic eruptions and changes in ...Read more

Climates of the Past (Paleoclimates)

Earth's climate has been changing for billions of years. It warmed and cooled many times long ...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

Over 100 years ago, people worldwide began burning more coal and oil for homes, factories, ...Read more

Climate Change in Polar Regions

The effects of climate change are not the same in all parts of the world. While Earth’s average ...Read more

El Nino and Other Climate Events

Sometimes there is a change in the way air moves through parts of the atmosphere. And there ...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 and we humans are mostly to blame.  By releasing greenhouse gases ...Read more

More about Climate and Global Change

Historical Events

Full Earth and Space Science    History Calendar (Members only)

Teacher Opportunities

Full Teacher Events Calendar (Educator Members only)

Did you know?

Did you know that greenhouse gases are increasing rapidly in the Earth's atmosphere?

Do you know the difference between weather and climate?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Rayleigh wave
xRayleigh wave : A Rayleigh wave is a seismic surface wave causing the ground to shake in an elliptical motion, with no transverse, or perpendicular, motion.

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

“Missing” Heat May Affect Future Climate Change

As greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere, more of the energy that gets to Earth from the Sun sticks around the planet. This means that the amount of energy coming to Earth is greater than the amount...Read more


Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA