Articles about Climate
Change
Aerosols and Climate Change
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Aerosols/
Aerosols are tiny particles suspended in
the air, generated by both human and natural activities. Scientists have
much to learn about the way aerosols affect regional and global climate.
Overall, we are unsure whether aerosols are warming or cooling our planet.
Aqua Mission for Earth System Science
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Aqua/Aqua.html
Aqua carries six state-of-the-art instruments
to observe the Earth's oceans, atmosphere, land, ice and snow covers, and
vegetation, providing high measurement accuracy, spatial detail, and temporal
frequency.
CALIPSO: A Global Perspective of Clouds
and Aerosols from Space
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/CALIPSO/
Two of the biggest uncertainties in understanding
and predicting climate change are the effects of clouds and aerosols (airborne
particles). The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations
(CALIPSO) satellite mission will help scientists answer significant questions
about climatic processes by providing new information on these important
atmospheric components.
The Carbon Cycle
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/CarbonCycle/carbon_cycle3a.html
Changing Global Cloudiness
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalClouds/
Clouds are one of the most influential features of Earth's climate system,
and also one of its most variable components. The natural diversity and
variability of clouds has intrigued and challenged researchers for centuries.
Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder
Satellite Observations (CALIPSO)
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/CALIPSO/
Two of the biggest uncertainties in understanding
and predicting climate change are the effects of clouds and aerosols (airborne
particles). The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations
(CALIPSO) satellite mission, currently under development, will help scientists
answer significant questions about climatic processes by providing new
information on these important atmospheric components.
Clouds and Radiation
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Clouds/
The study of clouds, where they occur, and
their characteristics, play a key role in the understanding of climate
change.
Does the Earth have an Iris Analog?
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Iris/
Scientists are still struggling to predict how the composition, structure,
and extent of clouds change if the surface of our planet grows significantly
warmer.
Global Warming
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/GlobalWarming/
The truth about global warming's threat to
our planet lies somewhere between the most dire predictions and the brush-off.
Global Warming: Stratopsheric Aerosol and
Gas Experiment (SAGE III)
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/SAGEIII/
Highly accurate, long-term measurements are
essential for gaining a better understanding of the processes that control
climate change. SAGE III observes the long-term health of the upper atmosphere.
The Migrating Boreal Forest
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/BorealMigration/boreal_migration.html
In their studies of the Earth’s
climate history, scientists have accumulated evidence that the tree species
we think of today as belonging to the northern forest have migrated back
and forth over entire continents, heading south with advancing ice age
glaciers on their heels, and then north as climate warmed and glaciers
retreated.
NOAA M Continues Polar-Orbiting Satellite
Series
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/NOAA-M/
NOAA satellites carry instruments that provide
data on temperature, humidity, ozone, and clouds as they track weather
patterns affecting global climate and weather.
SAGE III
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/SAGEIII
With the Stratopsheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment
(SAGE III), a satellite instrument, scientists plan to measure high-resolution
vertical profiles of key components of the upper atmosphere—the most important
being ozone, aerosols, (suspended particles) and water vapor —in order
to better understand climate change.
SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment
(SORCE)
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/SORCE/
SORCE will measure solar radiation incident
at the top of the Earth's atmosphere. The total solar irradiance, or TSI,
along with Earth's global average albedo, determines Earth's global average
equilibrium temperature. Instruments on SORCE will observe some of the
spectral properties of solar radiation for the first time.
Will Runaway Water Warm the World?
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/WaterVapor/
Across the globe, temperatures are slowly
creeping up. Scientists don’t entirely understand whether the atmosphere
will become more humid as it warms, and humidity is one of the primary
factors that will influence how much the climate will warm over the next
century.
ARTICLES ABOUT STRATOSPHERIC OZONE
Ozone
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Ozone/
Most ozone resides in the stratosphere (a
layer of the atmosphere between 10 and 40 km above us), where it acts as
a shield to protect Earth's surface from the sun's harmful ultraviolet
radiation.
Tango in the Atmosphere: Ozone and Climate
Change
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Tango/tango.html
A feedback system between ozone and climate
in the stratosphere may delay recovery of the ozone layer for a decade
or two longer than previously predicted.
Ultraviolet Radiation: How It Affects Life
on Earth
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/UVB/
UV radiation at different wavelengths differs
in its effects, and we have to live with the harmful effects as well as
the helpful ones.
IMAGES
Visible Earth – a searchable collection
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/
Image of the Day
Find on Earth Observatory home page
(http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov).
OTHER RELEVANT RESOURCES on EARTH OBSERVATORY
Ask a Scientist
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/AskScientist/
Questions and answers about Earth's environment
and climate
Research Satellites for Atmospheric Sciences: 1978 – Present
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/RemoteSensingAtmosphere/
The atmosphere changes chemically and physically
on widely varying time scales—ranging from minutes to decades—and is therefore
a challenge to measure precisely over the entire globe. For 25 years,
NASA and its affiliated agencies and research institutions have collaborated
to develop a series of research satellites enabling scientists to advance
scientific understanding of both chemical and physical changes in the atmosphere.
Space-based Observations of the Earth
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Observing/obs.html
A history of space-based research and exploration
from the early 1950s
Natural Hazards
-- such as dust and smoke, fires. Updated
weekly
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?topic=dust
Data
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Observatory/datasets.html
See especially:
Aerosol optical depth; Aerosol size, Aerosol
index, Cirrus reflectance, Cloud forcing, Cloud fraction, Emitted heat
radiation, Ozone, Rainfall, Snow cover, Snow cover and ice depth, Sea surface
temperature, Reflected solar radiation; Surface temperature; UV exposure
