1. Climate Variability and Change: An Overview Leigh Welling Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center Glacier National Park

2. What is Climate?

3. How does climate differ from weather? Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get. OR… Climate tells you what clothes to buy, weather tells you what clothes to wear.

5. Net transfer of heat from tropics to higher latitudes Is the fundamental driving force for weather and climate

6. Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) GOES Satellite

7. Gulf Stream Temperature warm, tropical water travels north heat is released to atmosphere affects weather and climate on East Coast and in Europe

8. What is Climate Variability? Earth’s climate varies across latitudes, seasons, and over multi- year, multi-decade and even multi-century time scales.

9. Equatorial Cold Tongue: red = warm water blue = cold water

10. ENSO is an example of natural climate variability

11. Persistent, extended Pacific Jet Stream & amplified storm track Typical US winter patterns during El Niño and La Niña El Niño La Niña Polar Jet Stream Variable Polar Jet Stream Variable Pacific Jet Stream warm dry wet cool cold wet warm

12. Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) warm phase cool phase PDO index

13. North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) negative phase positive phase

15. Carbon dioxide: up 32%

18. Gulf Stream Temperature warm, tropical water travels north heat transfer affects weather and climate surface water becomes dense and sinks

19. GREAT OCEAN CONVEYOR BELT

20. Natural Climate InfluenceHuman Climate Influence All Climate Influences

21. U.S. 186.1 Total CO 2 emission s since 1950 in billions of tons European Union 127.8 Russia 68.4 Ukraine 21.7 Poland 14.4 China 57.6 Japan 31.2 Australia 7.6 India 15.5 Kazakhstan 10.1 South Africa 8.5 Canada 14.9 Mexico 7.8 Trinidad and Tobago United Arab Emirate s Kuwait

23. Generalized Atmospheric Circulation