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.

<a href="/earth/polar/cryosphere_permafrost1.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">Permafrost</a> is ground that is below the freezing point of water (0C or 32F) for two or more years. Permafrost is found at high latitudes like the <a href="/earth/polar/polar_north.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">Arctic</a> and <a href="/earth/polar/polar_south.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">Antarctic</a>. It is also common at high altitudes - like mountainous areas wherever the <a href="/earth/climate/cli_define.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">climate</a> is cold. Permafrost has been thawing relatively quickly in recent years. Scientists have found that the rate of permafrost thaw has increased because of <a href="/earth/climate/cli_effects.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">global warming</a>.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of the USGS</em></small></p>Although we humans have never experienced fast <a href="/earth/climate/climate.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.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&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">Earth</a> keeps are in its <a href="/earth/geology/sed_intro.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">rocks</a>. In this image, <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/methane_28may08.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.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>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=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">nitrogen oxides</a>, <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/vocs.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">VOCs</a>, <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/carbon_monoxide.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">carbon monoxide</a>, <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/carbon_dioxide.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">carbon dioxide</a>, <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/sulfur_oxides.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">sulfur dioxide</a> and <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/particulates.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">particulates</a>. Some of these gases are <a href="/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">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=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">greenhouse effect</a>.<p><small><em>Image copyright UCAR</em></small></p><b><i>Looking for online resources to use in support of climate change education?</i></b> Our <a href="/teacher_resources/climate.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">Climate Change Educator Resources page</a> provides links to online content, classroom activities, interactives, and videos as well as resources provided by other leading organizations and agencies on this topic. Our <a href="/teacher_resources/climate_change_course.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">Climate Change Course Content page</a> provides links to online content for a range of climate change associated topics.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Mila Zinkova, Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike license</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>Scientists at the University of Michigan have found that <a href="/earth/polar/cryosphere_permafrost1.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">permafrost</a> in the <a href="/earth/polar/polar_north.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">Arctic</a> is extremely sensitive to sunlight. Exposure to sunlight releases carbon gases trapped in the permafrost, including <a href="/earth/climate/earth_greenhouse.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">climate-warming</a> <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/carbon_dioxide.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">carbon dioxide</a>, to the <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/overview.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/megacities.html">atmosphere</a> much faster than previously thought.<p><small><em>George Kling, The University of Michigan</em></small></p>

Explore Climate and Global Change

What Is Climate?

How do you know to pack your bathing suit and sunhat for a trip to a tropical island or pack ...Read more

What Controls the Climate System?

The Sun Climate can change if there is a change in the amount of solar energy that gets to ...Read more

Climates of the Past (Paleoclimates)

The climate of Earth has been changing for billions of years! It warmed and cooled many times ...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

Have you ever taken your temperature to see if you are getting sick? Scientists have been taking ...Read more

Climate Change in Polar Regions

Some parts of the world are warming faster than others. The Arctic is warming twice as fast ...Read more

El Nino and Other Climate Events

Sometimes the way the air moves around in the atmosphere changes.The way water moves through ...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

By sending greenhouse gases into the air, we have made Earth’s greenhouse effect stronger.  ...Read more

More about Climate and Global Change

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Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

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Seismogenic
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Research Highlights

Marine Scientists, Students Find Widespread Floating Plastic Debris in North Atlantic Ocean

A team of researchers from the Sea Education Association (SEA), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and the University of Hawaii (UH) has conducted a study of plastic debris in the ocean. Certain...Read more


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