Research on climate is a broad field of Earth system science, with applications in water, energy, ecosystems, air quality, sun-earth connections, glaciology, human health, biodiversity and more. It includes everything from measuring direct changes to the Earth’s surface with weather instruments, to analyzing proxy data that provides clues about conditions in prehistoric times, to building complex computer models of the atmosphere, ocean, land and ice (the cryosphere) that can predict long-term global trends.
Scientists around the world have come to a broad consensus that human-based emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are causing the Earth to warm. This warming, in turn, is causing natural and human systems to change. These changes include stronger and more frequent storms, a longer growing season in some areas, shifting patterns of insect-borne diseases, melting glaciers, and more.
Climate scientists use a wide variety of tools and techniques to measure these changes: They analyze ice cores from the North and South Poles to gauge how the environment has changed over centuries; they sample air to determine atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases; they study trees to understand how forest conditions have changed; and they build computer models to simulate the Earth’s dynamics on large computers.
PNNL scientists are collaborating with colleagues around the world to monitor and model Earth’s changing climate. Their efforts are helping to identify strategies for mitigating, adapting and responding to the challenges of a warmer world. Gifts to the Center for Climatic Research support this important work.
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