What Are Climate and Climate Change?

Climate change, therefore, is a change in the typical or average weather of a

region or city. This could be a change in a region's average annual rainfall, for
example. Or it could be a change in a city's average temperature for a given
month or season.

Climate change is also a change in Earth's overall climate. This could be a

change in Earth's average temperature, for example. Or it could be a change
in Earth's typical precipitation patterns.

What Is the Difference Between Weather and Climate?

What Is the Difference Between Weather and Climate?
Weather is the short-term changes we see in temperature, clouds,
precipitation, humidity and wind in a region or a city. Weather can vary greatly
from one day to the next, or even within the same day. In the morning the
weather may be cloudy and cool. But by afternoon it may be sunny and warm.
The climate of a region or city is its weather averaged over many years. This
is usually different for different seasons. For example, a region or city may
tend to be warm and humid during summer. But it may tend to be cold and
snowy during winter.

Is Earth's Climate Changing?

Earth's climate is always changing. In the past, Earth's climate has gone
through warmer and cooler periods, each lasting thousands of years.

Observations show that Earth's climate has been warming. Its average
temperature has risen a little more than one degree Fahrenheit during the past
100 years or so. This amount may not seem like much. But small changes in
Earth's average temperature can lead to big impacts.

What Is Causing Earth's Climate to Change?

Some causes of climate change are natural. These include changes in Earth's
orbit and in the amount of energy coming from the sun. Ocean changes and
volcanic eruptions are also natural causes of climate change.

Most scientists think that recent warming can't be explained by nature alone.
Most scientists say it's very likely that most of the warming since the mid-
1900s is due to the burning of coal, oil and gas. Burning these fuels is how we
produce most of the energy that we use every day. This burning adds heat-
trapping gases, such as carbon dioxide, into the air. These gases are called
greenhouse gases.
What Is the Forecast for Earth's Climate
Scientists use climate models to predict how Earth's climate will change.
Climate models are computer programs with mathematical equations. They
are programmed to simulate past climate as accurately as possible. This gives
scientists some confidence in a climate model's ability to predict the future.

Climate models predict that Earth's average temperature will keep rising over
the next 100 years or so. There may be a year or years where Earth's average
temperature is steady or even falls. But the overall trend is expected to be up.

What Is the Impact of Earth's Warming Climate?

Some impacts already are occurring. For example, sea levels are rising, and
snow and ice cover is decreasing. Rainfall patterns and growing seasons are
changing.
Further sea-level rise and melting of snow and ice are likely as Earth warms.
The warming climate likely will cause more floods, droughts and heat waves.
The heat waves may get hotter, and hurricanes may get stronger.

What Is the Difference Between "Climate Change" and "Global Warming"?

Global warming" refers to the long-term increase in Earth's average
temperature.
"Climate change" refers to any long-term change in Earth's climate, or in the
climate of a region or city. This includes warming, cooling and changes
besides temperature.

How Does NASA Study Climate Change?

Some NASA satellites and instruments observe Earth's land, air, water and
ice. Others monitor the sun and the amount of energy coming from it.
Together, these observations are important for knowing the past and present
state of Earth's climate. They are important for understanding how Earth's
climate works. And they are important for predicting future climate change.

What Is Being Done About Climate Change?

The United States and other countries are taking steps to limit or reduce
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These steps include using energy more
efficiently and using more clean energy. Clean energy is energy that puts less
or no greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The sun, wind and water are
sources of clean energy.
 Many nations, states and communities are planning for climate change
impacts that may be unavoidable. For example, some coastal areas are
planning for flooding and land loss that may result from rising sea levels.

What Can You Do to Help?

You can help by using less energy and water. For example, turn off lights and
TVs when you leave a room. And turn off the water when brushing your teeth.
You can help by planting trees, which absorb carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere.

Another way to help is by learning about Earth and its climate. The more you
know about how Earth's climate works, the more you'll be able to help solve
problems related to climate change.

What Are the 5 Climate Regions?

Zones?

Tropical, Rainy
This segment represents large areas which lie to the North and South
of the Equatorial belt around the middle of the earth. They are
characterized by frequent rain and hottest temperatures over 64.4F.
Places like Thailand and Brazil would be considered tropical.

Dry
These areas are characterized more by precipitation than by raw
temperature. An area that loses more moisture to evaporation than it
receives in rain would be considered dry. These areas tend to have
very high temperatures and are generally located along the Equator.
Much of Africa and the Middle East falls into this category.

Mild, Humid
These are the largest sections. They are characterized by temperatures
that generally stay below 64F but do not go below 26.6F. Much of the
United States and Europe fall in these areas.

Snowy, Forest
The colder parts of Europe, Asia, The Americas and Australia fall into
the category where their cold temperatures venture below 26.6F and
their highs rarely go above 50F.

Polar
 These are the coldest areas and would include much of Canada,
Alaska, the Arctic and Antarctica. The Polar regions never see a day
above 50.

A CLIMATE THAT'S ALREADY CHANGING

Climate is always changing, but the changes we've observed in the last
several decades are best explained as a combination of natural and human-
made causes.

CURRENT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE

Changes in weather
Heat and heat waves
Whats happening?
The IPCC reports that hot days, hot nights, and heat waves all
have become more frequent globally in the last 50 years.
Europes 2003 heat wave, which resulted in more than 40,000
deaths, was the hottest in 150 years of modern record keeping,
and possibly the hottest in 500 years, by some estimates. There
is at least double the risk of such deadly heat waves ocurring in
Europe compared to what it would be if we were not adding
greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, according to a 2004 study
in the journal Nature.

What can we expect?

By the 2040s, the average summer in Europe may be similar to
the scorching one of 2003, according to the Nature study cited
above.
A report by two NCAR scientists found that Chicagos heat
waves could become 25% more frequent by the 2080s.
Nighttime lows during the worst heat waves in the U.S. South
and West are projected to warm by more than 5F (3C).

Asia

Increases in flooding, rock avalanches, and water resource disruption due to

glacial melt from Himalayas (medium confidence)
Increased flooding of coastal areas in southern and eastern Asia
Ongoing risk of hunger due to regional variations in crop productivity,
combined with rapid population growth and urbanization, in several developing
countries (medium confidence)
Development challenges due to the mix of climate change impacts, growing
economies and populations, and rural-to-urban migration.

Rain, snow, and drought

 Whats happening?
On average, precipitation has increased globally over the last century,
including over the United States.
Days with heavy rain and snow are becoming more frequent over most of the
globes land areas, including North America, according to IPCC Working
Group I.
Despite this, the global extent of drought has more than doubled worldwide
since the 1970s, according to an NCAR study.

What can we expect?

By the 2080s, most land areas north of latitude 40N, from Europe to the
northern U.S. states and Canada, will see a jump in the number of days with
precipitation greater than 0.40 inch (1 centimeter), according to
NCAR research.
The same NCAR report found that dry spells could lengthen
significantly across the western United States, southern Europe, eastern
Brazil, and several other areas.
Another study found widespread agreement among computer models that the
U.S. Southwest, from the southern Great Plains to California, may be entering
a semipermanent state of drought, with "normal" years by the 2030s becoming
as dry as the 1930s Dustbowl or the persistent drought of the 1950s.

Stormy weather

Whats happening?
o The strongest U.S. tornadoes have not become more frequent in
the last 50 years. Reports of weaker tornadoes are increasing as
more people watch for them.
o Based on data since the 1970s, the most intense hurricanes
(those ranked Category 4 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale)
make up an increasing fraction of tropical cyclones worldwide.
o Sea-surface temperatures have increased in the parts of the
Atlantic and Pacific where warm water fuels hurricanes over the
last century. The warming is more likely due to human-produced
climate change than natural cycles, according to research
reported in June and September 2006.

What can we expect?

o Research continues on the effects of climate change on
tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and hurricanes. The trends
should become more clear as the length of observation records
grows. Because extremes are by definition rare, it takes a long
time to gather enough data to make definitive statements.
o Computer models of the global climate cannot directly simulate
tornadoes and other small-scale weather features. More
 progress will emerge as fine-scale models that depict hurricanes
and severe storms are linked to global simulations, as with
the Nested Regional Climate Model now being developed at
NCAR.

Changes in ecosystems

Even gradual warming can have dramatic impacts on ecosystems. By

crossing important thresholds, such as when freezing or thawing occur, small
shifts in climate can transform the way plants, animals, and landforms interact.
The polar and mountainous regions of Earth are especially vulnerable to
climate change. The huge amounts of snow and ice in cold regions act
as natural air conditionersnot because they're frozen, but because their
light-colored surfaces span vast areas, reflecting most of the sunlight that hits
them. If the ice melts, the darker surface underneath (whether land or sea)
absorbs much more of the sunlight, like asphalt paving does on a hot day.
That helps to speed further warming and melting in whats known as a positive
feedback loop.

Polar and mountainous regions

Whats happening?
During recent summers, the ice that covers the Arctic Ocean has been
retreating further than ever measured. The extent of Arctic ice in
September 2006 was only about 8085% of what it was in the 1980s
and 1990s.
Many glaciers on the coasts of Greenland and West Antarctica are
melting at an accelerating clip. When ice shelves and glacier tongues
break away from the coast (as in the spectacular Larsen B collapse of
2002), it allows the ice upstream to flow more quickly toward the sea. A
major chunk of Antarctica's Wilkins Ice Shelf collapsed in the spring of
2009 and is being monitored for further losses. For time lapse video of
melting glaciers around the world, see the Extreme Ice Survey website.
Over frigid and desolate East Antarctica, the ice cover may
be increasing as temperatures warm and snow becomes heavier.
Ironically, this increased precipitation could also be related to global
warming.

What can we expect?

Summer sea ice in the Arctic could decrease dramatically by the 2020s,
according to climate-model studies that also suggest virtually ice-free Arctic
summers are possible by 2040. The ice loss threatens the survival of polar
bears and other Arctic species.
The melting of ice from Greenland, West Antarctica, and glaciers elsewhere
will add to sea-level rise, which could range from 7 to 24 inches by 2100
according to the IPCCs most recent estimates. However, some aspects of
melting that could speed glacial loss are not fully represented in models or in
 the IPCCs own estimates because they remain poorly understood. An
NCAR study in 2006 found that the Arctics summer warmth by 2100 could
match that of 130,000 years ago, when sea levels were rising to 20 feet above
todays levels. Even if levels rise far less than that, a 2009 study suggests the
coastal United States, and particularly the northeast from New York up
through Canada, is especially vulnerable.

Plant life
Whats happening?Huge swaths of forest in Canada, Alaska, and Russia have
been ravaged over the last decade by forest fires, fed by record summer heat
and drought. These fires add large amounts of carbon dioxide, which is also
the major human-produced greenhouse gas, to the atmosphere. However, a
2006 study found that high-latitude fires may have an overall cooling effect in
the long term, as snowfall on the newly exposed ground reflects winter
sunlight for many years afterward.
As the climate warms, forests are also moving north into land that was once
Arctic tundra. These trees will act to warm the climate by darkening the
surface.

What can we expect?

Periods of high fire risk will continue to lengthen across northern
forests, with large increases in the areas burned, according to the
IPCC.
New Englands climate will no longer support maple trees by later this
century, according to the U.S. National Assessment of climate.
Agriculture will continue to be affected by changes in growing season,
precipitation patterns, number of frost days, number and intensity of
heat

Can't we just plant more trees?

Planting trees is one suggested response to climate change, because trees
absorb carbon dioxide, the most abundant greenhouse gas produced by
human activity, as they grow. But new research shows that, depending on
where they grow, some forests can intensify global warming, rather than
easing it.

Wildlife
Whats happening?
Some animal species are already shifting toward higher elevations or
higher latitudes, as warming intersects with other natural and human-
produced environmental change. A landmark 2003 survey found that
more than a third of 677 species examined had been affected by
climate change, moving an average of 3.7 miles poleward per decade
and/or 20 feet up in elevation. Pika, diminutive rodents found in
mountainous parts of North America and Asia, have disappeared from
 more than half of their range in the U.S. Great Basin in the last century.
A 2006 report based on 800 scientific studies concludes that many
species cannot keep pace with climate change and face extinction.
Warmer ocean temperatures, most evident during El Nio events, have
weakened or killed off coral species during "bleaching" incidents. More
than 15% of the worlds reefs were damaged by ocean warming
associated with the 199798 El Nio. Warming waters and related
changes are also helping push some algae, plankton, and fish species
poleward.

What can we expect?

Many species now stressed by climate change will continue to be affected.
According to the IPCC, som
e 2030% of plant and animal species assessed thus far are likely to be at
increased risk of extinction if the global average temperature warms more
than about 2.74.5F (1.52.5C), which may occur by later this century.
Temperature and precipitation change will influence the territory of mosquitoes
and other disease-carrying insects. For some ailments, such as malaria, the
areas of prevalence may expand in some regions and contract in others.
Climate is one of many factors influencing insect-borne diseases. Scientists
are working to better understand a variety of issues involving climate and
health.
Coral reefs are expected to continue declining as ocean temperatures warm
and ocean chemistry becomes less alkaline.