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As Earth’s temperature rises the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere increases. This increase in water vapor causes changes in how, where and when clouds form and these changes influence the general state of Earth’s climate. Trivia Question: How do clouds impact Earth’s climate? a)    They cool the planet by reflecting sunlight. b)    They [...]

The sun’s energy makes winds blow, ocean waters evaporate and fall as rain, plants grow and tornadoes and hurricanes whirl about. The sun drives all weather and all life on Earth despite being 93 million miles away. But not all of the radiation we get from the sun actually winds up driving weather or growing [...]

As continental interiors move between hot conditions in the summer and cold conditions in the winter, ocean temperatures stay relatively steady. Seasonal contrasts between land and ocean temperatures create differences in atmospheric pressure, and these differences drive circulations systems that create seasonal precipitation patterns. Trivia Question: Seasonal precipitation patterns driven by land-ocean temperature contrasts are [...]

Shifts in temperature related to climate change cause species to shift their favored territories, the seasonal timing of their activities and physiological traits including body size. As a given location becomes warmer, a population of warm-blooded animals such as mammals become: a)    bigger over successive generations. b)    smaller over successive generations. The correct answer is [...]

Plants take carbon out of the air and combine it with water to build their bodies, releasing oxygen as a bi-product, which sustains animals and humans. On land, plants like trees, grasses and shrubs, do most of the carbon uptake while in the oceans most of the job is done by microscopic, photosynthetic organisms called [...]

Measuring how much energy is in Earth’s climate system involves measuring things like surface temperatures, ocean temperatures, the planet’s ice volume, sea level and the persistence and frequency of certain weather events like heavy rains. Sustained changes in the amount of energy in Earth’s climate system and corresponding changes in things like temperature, ice volume [...]

Volcanoes are openings in the Earth’s crust that allow magma and gases to erupt into the surrounding atmosphere. Large volcanic eruptions, particularly eruptions in the tropics like Mt. Pinatubo, which blew in 1991, have noticeable effects on global temperature. Trivia Question: Following periods of frequent volcanic eruptions, what does Earth’s climate tend to do? a.   [...]

The Great Salt Lake is a prominent feature of the Intermountain West landscape. Geologists who study the region believe that the size of the lake varies on long time scales. Trivia Question: 20,000 years ago, when Earth’s climate was much cooler and a massive ice sheet extended form the Arctic south all the way to [...]

As the Earth warms, a few things happen to the water cycle. Warmer temperatures mean more evaporation from the soil, which can cause land surfaces to dry. They also mean, however, that the air holds more moisture, which can lead to more rainfall in certain regions. The polar regions, for example, are wetter than they [...]

Trivia Question: True or False: Bacteria can cause rainfall. The correct answer is true. Bacteria are single-celled organisms that are found on every continent, at the bottom of the ocean and as high as 50 miles in the atmosphere. Each year, between 90 million and four billion pounds of bacteria travel from the Earth’s surface [...]

Between about 50 degrees north (the southern part of Ontario) and 70 degrees north (the northern tip of Scandinavia) lay the boreal forests, dominated by coniferous trees such as larches, spruces, firs and pines. To the north of these forests lies the tundra, lands with short growing seasons where the soil remains frozen for all [...]

Earth receives a lot of solar radiation – about 3,850,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 joules each year or 3,850 zettajoules! One joule is about enough energy to lift an apple one meter off the ground. For further comparison, how does this annual amount of solar radiation compare with human energy consumption? Trivia Question: How much time does it take [...]

The energy that makes the winds blow, ocean waters evaporate and fall as rain, plants grow, and tornadoes and hurricanes whirl about, comes from the Sun. The Sun drives all weather and all life on Earth despite being 93 million miles away. Not all of the radiation we get from the Sun actually winds up [...]

Meteorological spring is defined as the March, April and May period. Astronomically, it is defined as the period from around March 21 to June 21. On March 21, day and night are of equal length everywhere on the globe. From March 21 to June 21, the days get longer in the Northern Hemisphere and shorter [...]

Mid-latitude regions in the Northern Hemisphere, like the United States, are now experiencing short days and cold temperatures. In Australia, in the Southern Hemisphere, days are long and temperatures are warm. The farther away from the poles you go, the less difference there is between winter and summer. At the equator there are about 12 [...]

Like humans, birds can freeze when temperatures get too low – but unlike people, birds can’t go inside and turn the thermostat up during the winter. Once food starts to disappear and temperatures drop in the fall, many birds travel to someplace warmer with more food. Some birds fly thousands of miles from their summer [...]

Some winters are colder than others and some winters are wetter and snowier than others. Trivia Question: What is the best way to predict what kind of winter you will have? a) Look at how intense the Sun is right now b) Look at how much ice there is in the Arctic c) Look at [...]

Earth has warmed over the last few decades. But this warming is more noticeable in certain seasons than it is in others. Trivia Question: In the United States, which season is warming the most? a) Spring b) Summer c) Fall d) Winter The correct answer is d. While the United States is warming at a [...]

During winter in the United States, warm and moist air masses coming in from the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean battle the frigid and dry air coming down from the Arctic. Where collisions between the dry and cold and warm and moist air masses occur, snow often forms. One key tool meteorologists have to [...]

The oceans are currently absorbing about 22 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) each day and have absorbed an estimated 525 billion tons of CO2 over the last 200 years. Trivia Question: As the oceans absorb more carbon dioxide, they become… a. more basic (higher pH). b. more acidic (lower pH). c. richer in nutrients. [...]