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 global temperatures
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 ...
Fighting climate change by turning CO2 to stone
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- While politicians debate the best ways to cut global carbon dioxide emissions, researchers at Idaho National Laboratory's Center for Advanced Energy Studies are charging ahead on a strategy ...
UK climate scientist to temporarily step down
Dec 01, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The chief of a prestigious British research center caught in a storm of controversy over claims that he and others suppressed data about climate change has stepped down pending an investigation, the ...
How can scientists measure evolutionary responses to climate change?
Nov 30, 2009 |
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As global temperatures continue to rise scientists are presented with the complex challenge of understanding how species respond and adapt. In a paper published in Insect Conservation and Diversity, Dr Francisco Rodriguez-Trelles and Dr ...
Search results for global temperatures
Scientist: Leak of climate e-mails appalling
Nov 23, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A leading climate change scientist whose private e-mails are included in thousands of documents that were stolen by hackers and posted online said Sunday the leaks may have been aimed at undermining next month's ...
Study: Slowdown in warming last year not permanent
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 04, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Cooler temperatures in North America last year do not mean global warming is easing, government and academic scientists said Friday.
Crops and Weeds: Climate Change's First Responders
Nov 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant physiologists is studying how global climate change could affect food crop production--and prompt the evolution of even more resilient weeds.
Study: Sea stars bulk up to beat the heat
Nov 17, 2009 |
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A new study finds that a species of sea star stays cool using a strategy never before seen in the animal kingdom. The sea stars soak up cold sea water into their bodies during high tide as buffer against potentially damaging ...
Climate change in Kuwait Bay
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 30, 2009 |
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Since 1985, seawater temperature in Kuwait Bay, northern Arabian Gulf, has increased on average 0.6°C per decade. This is about three times faster than the global average rate reported by the Intergovernmental ...
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.
Record high temperatures far outpace record lows across US (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 12, 2009 |
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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 ...
Oceans absorbing carbon dioxide more slowly, scientist finds
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 24, 2009 |
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The world's oceans are absorbing less carbon dioxide (CO2), a Yale geophysicist has found after pooling data taken over the past 50 years. With the oceans currently absorbing over 40 percent of the CO2 emitted by human activity, ...
From Greenhouse to Icehouse
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 24, 2009 |
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A new study that reconstructed ocean temperatures from millions of years ago could provide new insight into how the Earth responds to climate change.
Climate change could boost incidence of civil war in Africa
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Nov 23, 2009 |
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Climate change could increase the likelihood of civil war in sub-Saharan Africa by over 50 percent within the next two decades, according to a new study led by a team of researchers at University of California, Berkeley, ...
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