vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Global Warming
Volcanic activity has also, in the deep past, increased greenhouse gases over millions of years, contributing to episodes of global warming.
A biographical sketch of Milutin Milankovitch describes how changes in Earth’s orbit affects its climate.
These natural causes are still in play today, but their influence is too small or they occur too slowly to explain the rapid warming seen in recent decades. We know this because scientists closely monitor the natural and human activities that influence climate with a fleet of satellites and surface instruments.

Remote meteorological stations (left) and orbiting satellites (right) help scientists monitor the causes and effects of global warming. [Images courtesy NOAA Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (left) and Environmental Visualization Laboratory (right).]

NASA satellites record a host of vital signs including atmospheric aerosols (particles from both natural sources and human activities, such as factories, fires, deserts, and erupting volcanoes), atmospheric gases (including greenhouse gases), energy radiated from Earth’s surface and the Sun, ocean surface temperature changes, global sea level, the extent of ice sheets, glaciers and sea ice, plant growth, rainfall, cloud structure, and more.
On the ground, many agencies and nations support networks of weather and climate-monitoring stations that maintain temperature, rainfall, and snow depth records, and buoys that measure surface water and deep ocean temperatures. Taken together, these measurements provide an ever-improving record of both natural events and human activity for the past 150 years.
Scientists integrate these measurements into climate models to recreate temperatures recorded over the past 150 years. Climate model simulations that consider only natural solar variability and volcanic aerosols since 1750—omitting observed increases in greenhouse gases—are able to fit the observations of global temperatures only up until about 1950. After that point, the decadal trend in global surface warming cannot be explained without including the contribution of the greenhouse gases added by humans.
Though people have had the largest impact on our climate since 1950, natural changes to Earth’s climate have also occurred in recent times. For example, two major volcanic eruptions, El Chichon in 1982 and Pinatubo in 1991, pumped sulfur dioxide gas high into the atmosphere. The gas was converted into tiny particles that lingered for more than a year, reflecting sunlight and shading Earth’s surface.
Global Warming
In the face of higher sea levels and more intense storms, coastal communities face greater risk of rapid beach erosion from destructive storms like the intense nor’easter of April 2007 that caused this damage. (Photograph ©2007 metimbers2000.)

Hotter summers and more frequent fires will lead to more cases of heat stroke and deaths, and to higher levels of near-surface ozone and smoke, which would cause more ‘code red’ air quality days. Intense droughts can lead to an increase in malnutrition. On a longer time scale, fresh water will become scarcer, especially during the summer, as mountain glaciers disappear, particularly in Asia and parts of North America.
On the flip side, there could be “winners” in a few places. For example, as long as the rise in global average temperature stays below 3 degrees Celsius, some models predict that global food production could increase because of the longer growing season at mid- to high-latitudes, provided adequate water resources are available. The same small change in temperature, however, would reduce food production at lower latitudes, where many countries already face food shortages. On balance, most research suggests that the negative impacts of a changing climate far outweigh the positive impacts. Current civilization—agriculture and population distribution—has developed based on the current climate. The more the climate changes, and the more rapidly it changes, the greater the cost of adaptation.
Ultimately, global warming will impact life on Earth in many ways, but the extent of the change is largely up to us. Scientists have shown that human emissions of greenhouse gases are pushing global temperatures up, and many aspects of climate are responding to the warming in the way that scientists predicted they would. This offers hope. Since people are causing global warming, people can mitigate global warming, if they act in time. Greenhouse gases are long-lived, so the planet will continue to warm and changes will continue to happen far into the future, but the degree to which global warming changes life on Earth depends on our decisions now.

References
Anthes, R.A., Corell, R.W., Holland, G., Hurrell, J.W., MacCracken, M.C., & Trenberth, K. (2010, February 12).
Climate Change - NYSDEC
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Introduction to Climate Change

 

Trends in global average surface temperature between 1990 and 2021 show an increase of up to one degree Fahrenheit per decade for most of the planet. Click the image to see a larger PDF version. Source: NOAA Climate.gov

Understanding climate change begins with understanding the difference between weather and climate. Weather refers to atmospheric conditions that occur locally over a short period of time, such as rain, snow, clouds, or wind. Climate, however, refers to regional or global average patterns of temperature, humidity, and precipitation over longer time periods such as seasons, years, decades, or centuries. Climate is influenced by the movement of heat and moisture by air and ocean currents, which can affect the temperatures, precipitation, humidity, soil moisture, surface water levels, groundwater levels, and even storm events of a particular region.Climate change refers to long-term changes in the average weather patterns that define the Earth's global, regional and local climates.
Climate Change - NYSDEC
Sea level rise, heatwaves, floods, and more frequent storms are just a few climate change impacts that New York is experiencing. For more information on New York climate change data, indicators, and mapping tools see the additional resources listed below.
 
 

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Climate Change - NYSDEC
Some key points from these reports are:Human influence has rapidly warmed the climate at a rate that is unprecedented in at least the last 2,000 years.Global warming is driven by emissions from human activities.Climate change is already affecting every inhabited region across the globe with human influence contributing to many observed changes in weather and climate extremes.Limiting human-induced global warming will require rapidly reducing and then eliminating GHG emissions and removing emissions previously trapped in the atmosphere.Current efforts to reduce GHG emissions will not be able to prevent all global warming, so prioritizing resilience and adaptation to some inevitable climate change is essential as climate change impacts continue to happen and are anticipated to worsen around the globe and regionally.Studying Climate Change in the Social SciencesThousands of studies by researchers around the world have shown rising air, land, and ocean temperatures, and how the climate has been changing over the last century. Despite the amount of available scientific knowledge about the impacts of climate change happening now, and of new risks for the future, there is still a lack of understanding amongst the general public on the subject. Social scientists have been examining the attitudes that people have towards climate change. A 2017 Yale study found that 70 percent of the U.S. acknowledges that climate change is happening, with varying degrees of concern. But knowing that climate change is happening does not necessarily mean that people understand how human activities are contributing to GHG emissions and climate change, nor does it mean that people are able to easily adopt low-carbon lifestyles. Presenting climate change science clearly, in terms that the public can relate to, and informed by the insights of social and behavioral science, is an important focus and challenge for climate change communicators and educators. Communicating the options and benefits of low-carbon best practices is also important.

Climate Change Science in New York State

 Sea level rise, heatwaves, floods, and more frequent storms are just a few climate change impacts that New York is experiencing. For more information on New York climate change data, indicators, and mapping tools see the additional resources listed below.
 
 

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Climate Change Indicators in the United States

Coastal NY Future Floodplain Mapper

NOAA Sea Level Rise Viewer

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Climate Change - NASA Science
This increase happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon with oxygen in the air to make CO2. Read MoreWhat are the effects of climate change?The effects of human-caused global warming are happening now, are irreversible for people alive today, and will worsen as long as humans add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.We already see effects scientists predicted, such as the loss of sea ice, melting glaciers and ice sheets, sea level rise, and more intense heat waves.Scientists predict global temperature increases from human-made greenhouse gases will continue. Severe weather damage will also increase and intensify.Read MoreImages of ChangeBefore-and-after images of Earth.Learn MoreClimate Change ResourcesClimate Time MachineClimate change in recent historyGlobal Ice ViewerClimate change’s impact on iceMultimediaVast library of images, videos, graphics, and moreEn españolCreciente biblioteca de recursos en españolClimate Data ResourcesSea Level Change Observations from SpaceEstablished in 2014, this NASA-sponsored team works to improve the understanding of regional relative sea-level change on a range of timescales. They work with partners to translate the latest science and research into actionable information  and to communicate how impacts are increasing at the coast.NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS)NCCS provides high performance computing for NASA-sponsored scientists and engineers. The purpose  is to enhance NASA capabilities in Earth science, with an emphasis on weather and climate prediction, and to enable future scientific discoveries that will benefit humankind.GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP)NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies assembles one of the world's most trusted global temperature records, using a combination of surface air temperature data acquired by tens of thousands of meteorological stations, as well as sea surface temperature data from ship- and buoy-based instruments.NASA Earth Exchange (NEX)NEX combines state-of-the-art supercomputing, Earth system modeling, and NASA remote sensing data feeds to deliver a work environment for exploring and analyzing terabyte- to petabyte-scale datasets covering large regions, continents or the globe.Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO)GMAO members perform research, develop models and assimilation systems, and produce quasi-operational products in support of NASA's missions.
Global Warming
The shift in seasons may already be causing the lifecycles of pollinators, like bees, to be out of synch with flowering plants and trees. This mismatch can limit the ability of both pollinators and plants to survive and reproduce, which would reduce food availability throughout the food chain.
See Buzzing About Climate Change to read more about how the lifecycle of bees is synched with flowering plants.
Warmer temperatures also extend the growing season. This means that plants need more water to keep growing throughout the season or they will dry out, increasing the risk of failed crops and wildfires. Once the growing season ends, shorter, milder winters fail to kill dormant insects, increasing the risk of large, damaging infestations in subsequent seasons.
In some ecosystems, maximum daily temperatures might climb beyond the tolerance of indigenous plant or animal. To survive the extreme temperatures, both marine and land-based plants and animals have started to migrate towards the poles. Those species, and in some cases, entire ecosystems, that cannot quickly migrate or adapt, face extinction. The IPCC estimates that 20-30 percent of plant and animal species will be at risk of extinction if temperatures climb more than 1.5° to 2.5°C.
Impacting People
The changes to weather and ecosystems will also affect people more directly. Hardest hit will be those living in low-lying coastal areas, and residents of poorer countries who do not have the resources to adapt to changes in temperature extremes and water resources. As tropical temperature zones expand, the reach of some infectious diseases, such as malaria, will change. More intense rains and hurricanes and rising sea levels will lead to more severe flooding and potential loss of property and life.

One inevitable consequence of global warming is sea-level rise. In the face of higher sea levels and more intense storms, coastal communities face greater risk of rapid beach erosion from destructive storms like the intense nor’easter of April 2007 that caused this damage. (Photograph ©2007 metimbers2000.)

Hotter summers and more frequent fires will lead to more cases of heat stroke and deaths, and to higher levels of near-surface ozone and smoke, which would cause more ‘code red’ air quality days. Intense droughts can lead to an increase in malnutrition.
Climate Change - NYSDEC
When the Earth reflects the same amount of energy as it absorbs, the balance keeps the planet's average temperature fairly stable. This is called the greenhouse effect, and is essential for sustaining life on Earth. The revolution of the Earth around the sun and the tilt of the Earth on its axis create variation in the intensity of solar radiation received by different sections of the planet and drive naturally occurring cycles of planetary cooling and warming. This variation over time is what sends the Earth into ice ages and then into shorter warming periods between these ice ages. However, these natural climate cycles can be disrupted by conditions that cause an excessive amount of solar radiation to get trapped in the Earth's atmosphere and throw off the natural balance.Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N20), that are naturally present in the Earth's atmosphere in small amounts and help form the atmospheric blanket at the ideal thickness. CO2 is vital for plants to carry out photosynthesis and produce oxygen for humans and animals to breathe. When excess GHGs are generated by human activities and accumulate in the atmosphere, they increase the thickness of the atmospheric blanket, trapping solar radiation in the Earth's atmosphere. GHGs absorb and transmit that radiation back to Earth as heat. The more GHGs accumulate in the atmosphere, the thicker the blanket becomes, trapping more heat inside and creating global warming.Global warming causes the Earth's land and oceans to absorb heat energy and warm more quickly than would happen naturally. Global warming is made worse by the melting of polar ice and glaciers. Because of the albedo effect, light-colored snow and ice act as mirrors to reflect solar radiation back out into space. As ice sheets and glaciers melt with increased global warming, reducing the amount of ice and snow covering, less of the solar radiation is reflected and more is absorbed into the darker ocean waters, creating a vicious cycle that warms the planet even more and melts even more polar ice and glaciers.Global warming has been rapidly accelerating in recent decades due to excess emissions of GHGs from human activities, especially burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.
Understanding Climate Change
Using technologies that also help us explore other planets, JPL studies Earth’s land ice.If all the land ice on Earth melted, it would raise sea level around 260 feet (80 meters), so understanding how the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are changing is important to predicting future sea level. Changing sea level affects our port cities and coastlines, and the quality of groundwater near the coasts, where most of the world’s human population lives.Following the WaterUsing radar, heat, and moisture-sensing instruments in space and on aircraft, JPL studies the movement of water from the land and seas into the atmosphere and back — the Earth’s water cycle. Life depends on water, and our civilization depends on knowing when and where rain and snow will fall. Shifting precipitation patterns will change where we grow various types of food, where and how we get adequate freshwater for industry and for our own needs, and is transforming both human and non-human environments.Being able to predict these profound changes in the water cycle requires long-term collection of data from satellites and ground experiments. Scientists analyze the data and develop models to assess how the water cycle might change in the future. JPL teams with universities, other NASA centers and government agencies, and private research organizations to perform this public service.Where does all the carbon go?Greenhouse gases that warm our planet by absorbing and re-radiating heat have been rising relentlessly for more than a century. This rise has been driven primarily by human activities — including industry, agriculture, construction, electricity, transportation, and cutting down forests. Some greenhouse gases stay in the air and are eventually broken down by sunlight or chemical reactions. But about half of the most common greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, is consumed by living things.Yet even after decades of study, it's not clear how much carbon dioxide is consumed by plants on land and eventually deposited in the soil -- and how much is taken up by sea life that then dumps our carbon on the seafloor as sediment.Answering this and related questions is vital to understanding how the atmosphere’s concentration of greenhouse gases will change in the future. As the world warms, ecosystems will change along with their ability to consume our emissions.
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Home › Science › Earth’s Surface & Interior

Earth’s Surface & Interior

The Earth’s surface plays a critical role in the Earth system by interacting with the ocean and the atmosphere. To understand the Earth system, scientists must observe how the Earth’s surface changes as a result of interactions between the atmosphere and ocean (coastal erosion, landslides) and how tectonics and volcanism impact the atmosphere and ocean. Monitoring the Earth’s surface and interior also helps societies understand and respond to natural hazards.
The six scientific challenges under this science focus area are:

What is the nature of deformation at plate boundaries and what are the implications for earthquake hazards?
How do tectonics and climate interact to shape the Earth’s surface and create natural hazards?
What are the interactions among ice masses, oceans, and the solid Earth and their implications for sea level change?
How do magmatic systems evolve and under what conditions do volcanoes erupt?
What are the dynamics of the mantle and crust and how does the Earth’s surface respond?
What are the dynamics of the Earth’s magnetic field and its interactions with the Earth system?

Terra and Earth Surface and Interior
Terra has more than a decade of observations showing how earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides, and coastal erosion have altered Earth’s surface. The measurements also show how Earth’s surface is changing as a result of both short-term climate variability (drought) and climate change (melting ice sheets and glaciers).
Routine Disaster Monitoring