Related topics: climate change , greenhouse gas , climate models , global warming , ocean
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
Hackers leak e-mails, stoke climate debate
Nov 21, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Computer hackers have broken into a server at a well-respected climate change research center in Britain and posted hundreds of private e-mails and documents online - stoking debate over whether some scientists have ...
Controversial new climate change results
Nov 10, 2009 |
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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 ...
Antarctic ice loss vaster, faster than thought: study
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 22, 2009 |
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The East Antarctic icesheet, once seen as largely unaffected by global warming, has lost billions of tonnes of ice since 2006 and could boost sea levels in the future, according to a new study.
Science not faked, but not pretty
Dec 12, 2009 |
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(AP) -- E-mails stolen from climate scientists show they stonewalled skeptics and discussed hiding data - but the messages don't support claims that the science of global warming was faked, according to an ...
Study: Earth more sensitive to carbon dioxide than previously thought
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 06, 2009 |
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In the long term, the Earth's temperature may be 30-50% more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide than has previously been estimated, reports a new study published in Nature Geoscience this week.
Evolution may take giant leaps
Dec 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of thousands of species of plants and animals suggests new species may arise from rare events instead of through an accumulation of small changes made in response to changes in ...
Global warming likely to be amplified by slow changes to Earth systems
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 20, 2009 |
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Researchers studying a period of high carbon dioxide levels and warm climate several million years ago have concluded that slow changes such as melting ice sheets amplified the initial warming caused by greenhouse ...
Mysteriously warm times in Antarctica
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of Antarctica's past climate reveals that temperatures during the warm periods between ice ages (interglacials) may have been higher than previously thought. The latest analysis ...
Oceans' uptake of manmade carbon may be slowing
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 18, 2009 |
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The oceans play a key role in regulating climate, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air. Now, the first year-by-year accounting of this mechanism during the industrial ...
Computer simulation strengthens link between climate change and release of subsea methane
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A first-of-its-kind computer simulation that mirrors real-world observations of methane bubbling up from a seabed in the Arctic Ocean provides further evidence that warming oceans may unleash ...
Early life on Earth may have developed more quickly than thought (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 11, 2009 |
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The Earth's climate was far cooler -- perhaps more than 50 degrees -- billions of years ago, which could mean conditions for life all over the planet were more conducive than previously believed, according ...
Arctic ice cap 'to disappear in future summers'
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 15, 2009 |
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The Arctic ice cap will disappear completely in summer months within 20 to 30 years, a polar research team said as they presented findings from an expedition led by adventurer Pen Hadow.
Acid oceans: the 'evil twin' of climate change
Dec 18, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Far from Copenhagen's turbulent climate talks, the sea lions, harbor seals and sea otters reposing along the shoreline and kelp forests of this protected marine area stand to gain from any global ...
Key new ingredient in climate model refines global predictions
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 09, 2009 |
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For the first time, climate scientists from across the country have successfully incorporated the nitrogen cycle into global simulations for climate change, questioning previous assumptions regarding carbon feedback and potentially ...
Record high temperatures far outpace record lows across US (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 12, 2009 |
3 / 5 (28) |
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Spurred by a warming climate, daily record high temperatures occurred twice as often as record lows over the last decade across the continental United States, new research shows. The ratio of record highs ...
