"If you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes. It will change." This saying is heard in many parts of the United States because weather can be so unpredictable.
Weather is the general condition of our atmosphere from minute to minute, hour to hour, or day to day, in a specific location. Climate is what happens over a longer period of time. But how long? Most scientists believe our climate is changing faster than it should.
Earth is like a living, breathing creature. Its climate has not always been as it is now. During the ice ages, much of Earth's water was frozen, causing sea levels to be a lot lower than they are today. At other times, regions now under ice were warm rain forests, and the coastlines of today were under the sea.
Earth's global climate grows warmer or cooler as the balance of gases in the atmosphere changes. These changes may cause the atmosphere to hold in more or less heat from the sun. The oceans also store heat, moving it around the planet like a giant heating and air conditioning system.
A new satellite named NOAA-18 recently blasted off from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. Studying climate is one of its main jobs.
This new satellite is measuring land and sea surface temperatures, the amount of water in clouds, how much of the sun's energy Earth reflects back to space, and many other conditions. It will help scientists better understand Earth's climate system and if humans may be accidentally upsetting its delicate balance.
Learn other uses for the NOAA polar-orbiting satellites at the Space Place, spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/poes_tracking.
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This Learning Link was written by Diane K. Fisher. It was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of Caltech under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
