Ask a Climate Scientist Teaser
The topic of climate change inspires a lot of debate. At NASA, it has also inspired a lot of science.
NASA scientists examine the Earth's climate and how it is changing – gaining knowledge (or insight?) through decades of satellite observations, powerful computer models and expert scientific analysis.
Over the course of September 2013, these NASA climate experts will answer selected questions through the agency's social media channels – primarily on YouTube, Twitter and Google+.
But first – we need your questions.
Have a question that's always confounded you about Earth's climate? Wonder why it matters that the climate is changing now if it has changed before? Or how scientists know changes seen in recent decades are the result of human activities, not natural causes?
Go ahead. Ask a climate scientist.
NASA scientists examine the Earth's climate and how it is changing – gaining knowledge through decades of satellite observations, powerful computer models and expert scientific analysis. NASA climate experts will answer selected questions through the agency's social media channels – primarily on YouTube, Twitter and Google+.
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Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Writers
- Patrick Lynch (NASA/GSFC)
- Silvia Stoyanova (USRA)
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Video editors
- Matthew Radcliff (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Silvia Stoyanova (USRA)
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Producers
- Matthew Radcliff (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Silvia Stoyanova (USRA)
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Narrator
- Patrick Lynch (NASA/GSFC)
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Videographer
- Rob Andreoli (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.)
Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Tapes
This visualization originally appeared on the following tapes:-
Ask A Climate Scientist
(ID: 2013077)
Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at 4:00AM
Produced by - Walt Feimer
Papers used in this visualization
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ID: 11991 Produced Video
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ID: 11377 Produced Video
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Read moreIs the frequency of extreme weather events a sign that global warming is gaining pace and exceeding predictions?Bill Patzert, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says the evidence that extreme weather events have been more frequent in recent years is definitely to the contrary. "The United States has always had extreme weather. We look back on our weather history. It's been punishing: floods, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, great forest fires. "Is global warming happening? No doubt about it. We're living in a warmer world, we're living in a melting world, sea levels are rising. Now, direct evidence of the footprint or the fingerprint of global warming: we're seeing more frequent, more intense, and longer lasting heat waves. As far as hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, floods, and drought, the evidence is definitely not in. The consensus among almost all scientists is that it's a small fingerprint, not a large footprint. "But what is true is that in this country, in the United States, we live in many areas with great risk to drought, to tornadoes, to hurricanes, and so part of the dialogue is not only extreme weather and global warming, but is the amount of risk we can tolerate. Now looking to the future, global change, global warming - it definitely is accelerating and it will have an impact on extreme weather, but at this point, not much." See more of NASA's answers to your questions on climate science. ||
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ID: 11380 Produced Video
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ID: 11362 Produced Video
Ask A Climate Scientist - Lagging CO2
Read moreIs there any merit to the studies that show that historical CO2 levels lag behind temperature, and not lead them?Climate scientist Peter Hildebrand, Director of the Earth Science Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, says yes, there's merit to those studies. In the pre-industrial age, the CO2 response to temperature was that the temperature would go up and CO2 would go up. Or if the temperature went down, CO2 would go down. And the reason for that is when the temperature went up, the whole biosphere revved up and emitted CO2, and we had more CO2 in the atmosphere. So we understand that process.In the post-industrial age, the opposite is true. Increasing CO2 in the atmosphere is leading to increased temperature. So two different things happened, one pre-industrial, where temperature was driving the CO2, and post-industrial, where CO2 was driving temperature. Which means a completely different physical-biological process is going on. And we don't understand what the consequence of that change is. It is a fundamental change to how the earth works and the earth's radiation balance works. And so, we're very concerned because we don't see any restraining force on continued increase in temperature due to continued increase in CO2. And that's a problem. ||
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ID: 11356 Produced Video
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