This past year was extreme across most of the world. BC’s heat dome scorched cities. Hurricane Ida caused severe damage in the U.S., Atlantic Canada, and the Caribbean. Droughts in Kenya caused a food shortage. Climatology is the study of how the climate changes over time. This science can help answer why extreme weather is becoming more frequent.
Climatology branches out into some different fields. Here are a few examples:
Regional climatology: examines unique weather events in specific regions.
Physical climatology: looks into elements of weather, like temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric pressure.
Dynamic climatology: the study of atmospheric circulation.
Climatology is like meteorology, but climatology focuses on the long-term causes and consequences of climate events. Meteorology studies weather patterns over short time periods.
Many people connect the recent rise in extreme weather events to climate change. Extreme event attribution helps us understand whether climate change has made extreme weather more likely to happen. Remember, climate change does not cause everyday weather, but it can influence the patterns of weather we see over time. Climate change made it 2-4 times more likely for a dangerous fire season in BC during 2017. The 2017 fire season was the worst in BC’s history.
Global climate models are useful, but extreme weather usually affects specific regions. A machine learning algorithm found patterns in atmospheric circulation. Atmospheric circulation is when air and oceans move from place to place and bring warm air to different parts of the globe. By studying atmospheric circulation, we can predict occurrences of heavy precipitation and flooding in areas like the American Midwest. The algorithm has also found some causes of extreme rain: increased atmospheric pressure, and atmospheric moisture flows from the Gulf of Mexico. Hopefully this algorithm can be used to prepare regions for extreme weather events before they happen.
Climate change is going to be a part of our future. It is already a part of our present. But many people are working to help everyone stay safe and find solutions. Extreme weather may happen more often during climate change, so we need to learn more about where and why it occurs. If you want to learn more about climatology, here are some great places to start!
This map pinpoints locations of extreme weather events and shows their connection to climate change: https://www.carbonbrief.org/mapped-how-climate-change-affects-extreme-weather-around-the-world
World Weather Attribution is an organisation of climate scientists around the world who analyze weather patterns and report if these patterns connect with climate change: https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/about/
SciJinks is a website with resources, games, and activities to help students learn about weather and climate. It is run by NASA’s Space Place team for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: https://scijinks.gov/
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Resources
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2015, February 27). Climatology | meteorology. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/climatology
Extreme weather | World news | The Guardian. (2021, October 1). The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/extreme-weather
Ghori, A. (2021, July 15). Are Extreme Weather Events the Result of Climate Change? Canadian Institute for Climate Choices. https://climatechoices.ca/are-extreme-weather-events-the-result-of-climate-change/
Stanford University. (2021, August 10). Researchers use artificial intelligence to unlock extreme weather mysteries. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 9, 2021 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210810143117.htm