Related topics: climate change
Climate
hideClimate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time. Climate can be contrasted to weather, which is the present condition of these same elements over periods up to two weeks.
The climate of a location is affected by its latitude, terrain, altitude, ice or snow cover, as well as nearby water bodies and their currents. Climates can be classified according to the average and typical ranges of different variables, most commonly temperature and rainfall. The most commonly used classification scheme is the one originally developed by Wladimir Köppen. The Thornthwaite system, in use since 1948, incorporates evapotranspiration in addition to temperature and precipitation information and is used in studying animal species diversity and potential impacts of climate changes. The Bergeron and Spatial Synoptic Classification systems focus on the origin of air masses defining the climate for certain areas.
Paleoclimatology is the study and description of ancient climates. Since direct observations of climate are not available before the 19th century, paleoclimates are inferred from proxy variables that include non-biotic evidence such as sediments found in lake beds and ice cores, and biotic evidence such as tree rings and coral. Climate models are mathematical models of past, present and future climates.
For more information about Climate, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with climate
Controversial new climate change results
8 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New data show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of CO2 has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of CO2 having risen from about 2 billion ...
Australian scientists call for urgent 'global cooling' to save coral reefs
20 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Australian marine scientists have issued an urgent call for massive and rapid worldwide cuts in carbon emissions, deep enough to prevent atmospheric CO2 levels rising to 450 parts per million (ppm).
Making Climate Forecasts More Useful to Farmers
22 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Climate forecasts are becoming more useful to farmers and ranchers, thanks to research by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their cooperators.
Antarctica glacier retreat creates new carbon dioxide store
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Large blooms of tiny marine plants called phytoplankton are flourishing in areas of open water left exposed by the recent and rapid melting of ice shelves and glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula. This ...
The politics of climate fixes
Nov 06, 2009 |
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In the middle of a day filled with a stream of information-packed PowerPoint displays and alarming projections of what the future holds for our planet and our civilization, Judith Layzer’s talk was something ...
Past climate of the northern Antarctic Peninsular informs global warming debate
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 06, 2009 |
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The seriousness of current global warming is underlined by a reconstruction of climate at Maxwell Bay in the South Shetland Islands of the Antarctic Peninsula over approximately the last 14,000 years, which ...
Can biodiversity persist in the face of climate change?
Nov 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Predictions made over the last decade about the impacts of climate change on biodiversity may be exaggerated, according to a paper published in the journal Science.
Nocturnal wind maximum mapped for first time
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 05, 2009 |
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On beautiful, sunny days with quiet weather conditions a strong wind develops in the evening at a height of about 200 metres.
Touting tech tools of the future
Nov 05, 2009 |
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While most people were turning their clocks backward over the weekend, Microsoft research chief Craig Mundie was moving his forward, five to 10 years into the future.
Tackling new Arctic challenges from space
Nov 05, 2009 |
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International scientists, researchers and decision makers met at the 'Space and the Arctic workshop' to identify the needs and challenges of working and living in the rapidly changing Arctic and to explore how space-based ...
3 Questions: Sergey Paltsev on the costs of climate-change legislation
Nov 05, 2009 |
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Sergey Paltsev, a principal research scientist in MIT’s Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, was the lead author of a recent report that analyzed the costs of climate legislation currently ...
Paleoecologists offer new insight into how climate change will affect organisms
Nov 04, 2009 |
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An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science written by a team of ecologists, including Robert Booth, assistant professor of earth and environmental science at Lehigh University, examines some of the po ...
'Whitewash' could slow global warming: Peruvian scientist
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 04, 2009 |
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A Peruvian scientist has called on his country to help slow the melting of Andean glaciers by daubing white paint on the rock and earth left behind by receding ice so they will absorb less heat.
Drought tolerant cowpea can improve crop yield in arid West Africa
Nov 03, 2009 |
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Even the highly drought-resistant cowpea (a long type of legume) now has an increasingly difficult time surviving in the Sahel countries where climate change has resulted in shorter and less frequent rainy seasons. Wageningen ...
575-million-dollar fund targets technology startups
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Silicon Valley venture capital firm Greylock Partners said Monday it has 575 million dollars in a new fund to back promising technology startups.
