If we are having hot weather today, does that mean the climate has changed? No not all. Climate is the record of our weather over a longer period. Although if we had hot weather every day this would eventually affect our overall climate score. Earth’s climate system is supposed to prevent this happening. Scientists say humans upset the balance.
How Earth’s Climate System is Supposed to Work
The energy Earth receives from Sun ultimately determines our climate / average weather conditions. These vary around the globe according to the way the atmosphere and oceans distribute the energy.
Earths climate system is complex because it depends on many factors. Although all of these depend on the fundamental laws of physics which have kept them in harmony until recently. However, their complex interrelationships make it difficult to understand, simulate and predict climate change, National Center for Atmospheric Science says.
The Fundamental Processes that Control Climate and It’s Change
The Gulf Stream brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to Newfoundland before it crosses the Atlantic Ocean. The crops we grow and our forests affect the atmosphere, and vice versa too. Tropical rainfall, hurricanes and other storms feed off warmth rising from Earth’s surface. Finally, the upper atmosphere controls how much of Sun’s energy reflects back, and how much remains on Earth.
Scientists believe we are interfering with Earths climate system by emitting too much carbon dioxide caused by our human activities. This is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events. If we don’t reverse the trend our children’s children will live in a more extreme climate. We can measure how the weather, and ultimately how the climate changed historically by examining ice sheets, tree rings, sediments, rocks, and coral.
Over the past fifty years or so we have had instruments to measure climate in real time. These records tell us Earth is steadily becoming warmer. Our species may eventually become extinct if we can’t reverse the Global Warming phenomenon before it’s too late.
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Preview Image: Northern Reach of Gulf Stream (RED) from Space
