Fitting puzzle pieces together is analogous to how we study the Earth. By considering Earth as an integrated system, with many interlocking parts, we are able to understand the larger picture of global change.
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Why are seasonal temperature extremes milder near large bodies of water and more extreme further inland? It has to do with thermal inertia.
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The surface of the Earth is a patchwork of many colors. Find out how the colors of our planet impact climate.
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The Big Freeze: Rapid Cooling During the Younger Dryas
The biosphere includes all life on our planet. Scientists study how biological processes, like photosynthesis, affect other parts of the Earth system. Humans are only a small fraction of Earth's biosphere, but our actions have a large impact.
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Carbon dioxide is an important greenhouse gas. Less than 1% of Earth's atmosphere is carbon dioxide gas.
This animation shows how carbon dioxide molecules act as greenhouse gases by absorbing and re-emitting photons of infrared radiation.
The climate where you live is called regional climate. Global climate is a description of the climate of a planet as a whole, with all the regional differences averaged.
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When climate conditions, such as temperature and precipitation, vary from the expected averages this is called climate variability. Natural changes in the Earth system can cause climate variability, but scientists are concerned about climate variability resulting from human-caused climate change.
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The direct measures of climate tend to be mostly the same as the measurable aspects of weather - temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind speed and direction - only over much longer periods of time.