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Climatic change theories

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Climatology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Science ((EESS))

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The climate of most regions has undergone short-lived fluctuations within historic times. Many of these fluctuations last for seven or eleven years and often are imputed to variations in sunspot activity. Measurements by spacecraft above the lower atmosphere eventually will throw light on this possibility. Numerous other short fluctuations of climate occur that are connected with variations in the geographical position and strength of atmospheric-oceanic circulations. These must be considered normal for a loosely coupled machine driven by solar energy and earth rotation.

Imposed on these regional, ephemeral fluctuations of the order of a few years to centuries, are global climatic changes with a timescale of millennia to millions of years. Climatic change means a relatively long-lived change in climatic components, particularly a change in temperature and precipitation that is large enough to affect the climate of the whole earth by its influence on run off and sea level.

Historical...

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Authors
  1. R. P. Beckinsale
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© 1987 Van Nostrand Reinhold

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Beckinsale, R.P. (1987). Climatic change theories . In: Climatology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30749-4_37

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30749-4_37

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-87933-009-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-30749-7

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