Wikibooks: Climate Change/Introduction

• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Subjects: Sea ice
• Online Access: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Climate_Change/Introduction

TOC right =Climate= Climate is a broad term but it always describes a long term change of a climate system. Often climate is used to mean the long term mean state of the atmosphere including temperature humidity and wind. In other contexts climate can include the oceanic state the cryosphere (snow and sea ice) the biosphere and sometimes even the lithosphere (Earth s crust). Climatology the science that studies climate is a young science with modern climate science only emerging from meteorology oceanography and geology in the late 20th Century it is highly dependent of mathematical models and estimates that rely in a constant gathering of data improved sensors and historical records (natural or human generated). Of course people have been interested in the natural world including movements of air and water for a very long time. An in general the sciences are still very imprecise at short or very long time frames even if precision tends to increase over large geographical areas. Meteorologists and atmospheric scientists often say that climate is what you expect weather is what you get. =Climate Change= The term global warming was coined by Wallace Broecker a professor at Columbia University in reference to the increase in the average temperature of Earth s near surface air and oceans since the mid 20th century and its projected continuation. The term has fallen in diseuse as it induces error to the general population that can indeed notice that a change is occurring and the climate system is becoming more dynamic but may not perceive the average temperature increase especially when the extremes are becoming more mediatic it is easier to show a snow storm a river overflowing even a hurricane than to visually transmit the sense of temperature especially increase and drought in relatable urban settings and for urbanized audiences. Anthropogenic climate change One early example of a theory for anthropogenic climate change is George P. Marsh s ref Marsh The Earth as Modified by Human Action published in 1874. The ...