Climate and Climate Change

What this page covers

This unit brings together material on how climate works and how it has changed. Some resources look at the present-day system. The mind map Global Atmospheric Circulation explains how uneven heating at the equator creates different air pressure. The flowchart on how tropical storms form follows warm ocean air as it rises, cools and condenses into towering storm clouds. Others, such as the mind maps on hurricanes, monsoon and tropical cyclones, stay with weather systems.

Climate through time

A large part of the page looks at the past. The flashcard deck Earth Climate History asks about proxy data such as tree rings, cave records and coral. Climate of the past millenium covers the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age. Causes and Characterisation of Ice Ages and the mind map Overview cover orbital forcing, including eccentricity, obliquity and precession. There is also a mind map on the Ruddiman Hypothesis and one on causes of CO2 variability over glacial-interglacial timescales.

Where to start

1. Open the mind map Global Atmospheric Circulation to get the basic picture of the atmosphere.
2. Move to Overview for orbital forcing, then to the flashcards Causes and Characterisation of Ice Ages.
3. Use Earth Climate History and Climate of the past millenium to learn how scientists know about past climates.
4. Finish with a quiz such as Milankovitch Cycles or Climate Model Practice Quiz.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a mind map first and say each branch aloud in your own words. Then take a quiz and note which questions slow you down. Go back to the map for those branches, and use a flashcard deck to repeat them. The decks Question 4 part 2 and Part 2 Question 1 are useful for practicing written explanations, such as the difference between weather and climate or what the Southern Oscillation index measures.

Where it sits

This unit belongs to the strand Water, Oceans and Atmosphere in Geology and earth sciences. Pick one resource that matches what you are studying today, and see how far you get before moving on.