The Climate - How to understand it
The topic of the climate is a touchy one. It also can be complicated. So let's talk about it Climate is determined by a bunch of different factors and its about the long-term pattern. Those different things are usually temperature and precipitation averages. Also when you are talking about climate change, there is a more specific emphasis on temperature and precipitation extremes.
You can describe the climate for totally different time intervals, such as decades, years, seasons, months, or specific dates of the year. But! The more specific you get, the more sure you have to be that you talk in terms of a range. So when someone says "the Earth is 1 degree warmer" that is talking about a time frame of a hundred+ years. But when talking about the winter in Alaska (shorter than 100 years), "it's usually cold!" - which is much less exact than 1 degree - will cover you for those days it reaches 40 and when its -40.
But Josh - Why should I care about climate though?
Understanding the basics of climate is important because the climate will be a hot topic as we move forward into the future. (Did you miss the pun? I was proud of that pun). As the climate continues to change it will affect almost everything we do, including the economy, human and environmental health, and national security. We only have 2 likely anticipated results, as of now. There are other things that could happen, but we are sure of:
Rising global sea level
Increasing frequency and intensity of heat waves, droughts, and floods
But Josh - How do we know that the stuff you are saying is true?
Totally, totally valid. That is the question that makes science so confusing. Because it evolves. Andddddd, the science community can be wrong. Think back to when COVID started - the CDC told us masks were bad, but then said doctors and healthcare professionals should have them. Doesn't that seem like a direct contradiction? Well now we know better - but it took a little time to get that right.
The scientific community uses a highly formalized version of checking your work to validate research results. After other scientists review and check the work of the first researchers, they can help shape our understanding of whats happening. Researchers describe their experiments, results, and interpretations in scientific manuscripts and submit them to a scientific journal that specializes in their field of science.
The best way to describe it is that really dedicated people, fact check other really dedicated people and once we have a large amount of data, we can start to make some guesses about what is happening.
Soooooo Josh - Is the climate changing?
During the 1900s, the Earth’s average surface temperature rose by approximately 1.1 degrees (Fahrenheit). Since then there has been an additional warming of more than 0.25 degrees. Though the total increases may seem small, it represents an extraordinarily rapid rate of change compared to changes in the previous 10,000 years.
The scientific community has overwhelming consensus that the climate is changing. The evidence supports that it is man-made and that our emissions are the cause. The debate really comes down to what we should do about it. That is probably another post, for another day.
