Category Archives: Climate
Causes and Effects of Tropical Widening
With the help of satellite data, scientists studying the Tropics and other climate zones have been tracking changes over time. Here the Tropics is highlighted in orange. Recent studies show the Tropical zone is expanding toward the poles. Why do we care if the Tropics expands? This widening spreads Tropical diseases to new places and drought to the Subtropics, where much of the world’s population lives. Continue reading
How does the Arctic Affect Extreme Weather?
Over the past several decades, the number of extreme weather events has increased. During those same years, the Arctic has warmed twice as fast as the rest of the Northern Hemisphere. The rapid Arctic warming is referred to as Arctic Amplification, and research suggests that it may be blamed for some of the extreme weather episodes. Continue reading
September 2012 (and 2005) Warmest on Record
After the fourth warmest August on record, the combined global land and ocean temperature for September 2012 was 0.67°C (1.21°F) above the 20th century average of 15.6°C (60.1°F), making it the warmest September on record (since 1880), tied with September 2005. Continue reading
