Earth and Environment Atlas

How The Planet Works
Disciplines

Climatology

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Atmospheric Science

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The study of climate: weather averaged over decades rather than days, and the slower cycles, orbital, oceanic, atmospheric, that push it warmer or colder over centuries and ice ages.

Facts
Central Question
Climatology is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. 1
Scope
Climatology studies the long-term statistical behavior of the atmosphere-ocean system, from regional climate patterns to the causes of ice ages and modern global warming. 1
Significance
Climatology's reconstructions of past climate and projections of future climate inform the policy response to anthropogenic climate change. 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Has Scientist

Includes

The 1816 Year Without a Summer that followed is a foundational case study in how volcanic aerosols force climate.

Its stratospheric sulfur dioxide cooled global temperatures by about 0.5 degrees Celsius over the following two years.

The most widely used climate classification scheme.

The sulfurous haze that spread over Europe and the resulting famine are studied as a climate event.

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