In spite of progress, climate questions remain
DB: This is Earth & Sky. Climate scientists often use the raw data from satellites in orbit around Earth.
JB: The satellites measure earthly phenomena – such as temperature, or rainfall amounts in a certain location – and that raw data can be plugged into computer models that show what Earth’s climate might be like in the coming decades.
Berrien Moore: I think that we’ve really made quite remarkable progress in the last 10 or 15 years on understanding the Earth system, and in particular the climate of the Earth. Part of that has come about through increased observations, our deeper understanding of the processes. But frankly, we also now have the computing power to execute a number of these known calculations. I believe that we’re narrowing in on the critical phenomenon.
DB: That was Berrien Moore, the director of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire. He said that the current climate models are powerful – but big questions remain unanswered.
Berrien Moore: Questions of changes in the distribution of rainfall, changes in the distribution and magnitude of severe events. These are the kinds of things that really affect people’s lives. And those are the kinds of challenges that we’re going to have to step up to in the next 10 years.
JB: With thanks today to NASA, we’re Block and Byrd for Earth & Sky.
Here are some key points surrounding the issue of climate change, and humanity’s current ability to understand it and cope with it:
1. The climate system is extremely complex.
2. Computer models can diagnose key aspects of the climate system. According to Dork Sahagian of Lehigh University, computers “are becoming fast enough to reach a critical operational modeling threshold in terms of processes and resolution.”
3. Modern satellite observing systems provide data that provide insights as well as tests of the computer models made by climate scientists.
4. As climate changes, it is not the global averages that affect people. Localized rainfall and extreme events are currently thought to be the biggest issues.
Interview: How well do scientists understand climate change?
Berrien Moore talks about the questions that remain.
Our thanks to:
Berrien Moore
Director
Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space
University of New Hampshire
Dork Sahagian
Environmental Initiative
Lehigh University,
Bethlehem, PA
Additional Teacher Resources
EPA: Climate Change
The EPA Climate Change Site offers comprehensive information on the issue of climate change in a way that is accessible and meaningful to all parts of society – communities, individuals, business, states and localities, and governments.
NASA: Climate Change Resource Reel
From polar ice to phytoplankton, parts of the earth system are constantly changing. At NASA, scientists strive to better understand these changes and how they are interconnected. Using remote-sensing data from satellites, this research diagnoses our planets current health and will help future generations and explorers understand the earth system as a whole.
