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Culture, Climate Science & Education
Climate Tools: Set One
- Tribal Climate Tool
- Climate at a Glance
- Climate Change Viewer
- My NASA Data
- NASA Earth Observations
- Earth Observatory
- Time Machine
- Eyes on the Earth
- Climate Modeling
- EarthNullSchool.net
- The Climate Web
Tribal Climate Tool
The National Climate Change Viewer allows users to visualize projected changes in the climate (maximum and minimum air temperature and precipitation) and the water balance (snow water equivalent, runoff, soil water storage and evaporative deficit) for any state, county and USGS Hydrologic Units (HUC).
The viewer provides a number of useful tools for characterizing climate change including maps, climographs (plots of monthly averages), histograms that show the distribution or spread of the model simulations, monthly time series spanning 1950-2099, and tables that summarize changes in the quantiles (median and extremes) of the variables. The application also provides access to comprehensive, summary reports in PDF format and CSV files of the temperature and precipitation data for each geographic area.
One of the best places to study Earth is from space. NASA satellites continually orbit the globe, collecting information about Earth’s ocean, atmosphere, and land surfaces. Satellites can even monitor the activity of life forms, such as phytoplankton, from their remote vantage points. Satellite imagery provides the greatest benefit to the most people when it can be analyzed by anyone with an interest. NEO strives to make global satellite imagery as accessible as possible.
Their mission is to help you picture climate and environmental changes as they occur on our home planet. On their website you can browse and download imagery of satellite data from NASA's constellation of Earth Observing System satellites. Over 50 different global datasets are represented with daily, weekly, and monthly snapshots, and images are available in a variety of formats including JPEG, PNG, Google Earth, and GeoTIFF. To go the NEO website, click the button below
Earth Observatory: Global Maps and World of Change
NASA satellites give us a global view of what’s happening on our planet. To explore how key parts of Earth’s climate system change from month to month, click on the button below, choose a map, and then hit the play button to see change over time.
Earth is constantly changing. Some changes are a natural part of the climate system, such as the seasonal expansion and contraction of the Arctic sea ice pack. The responsibility for other changes, such as the Antarctic ozone hole, falls squarely on humanity’s shoulders. Our World of Change series documents how our planet’s land, oceans, atmosphere, and Sun are changing over time. Click the button below to visit the World of Change website.
Climate Time Machine
NASA’s Eyes on the Earth
Monitor our planet's vital signs, such as sea level height, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and Antarctic ozone. Trace the movement of water around the globe using the gravity map from NASA's GRACE satellites. Spot volcanic eruptions and forest fires using the carbon monoxide vital sign. Check out the hottest and coldest locations on Earth with the global surface temperature map.
"Eyes on the Earth" displays the location of all of NASA's operating Earth-observing missions in real time and lets you compare them in size to a scientist or a school bus. Get a sneak peek at upcoming missions and learn how NASA is planning to study our Earth in the future.
With the “Latest Events” feature, you can explore geo-located satellite images of recent Earth events, including algal blooms, super storms and wildfires.
Educational Global Climate Modeling (EdGCM)
For the first time, students can explore the subject of climate change in the same way that actual research scientists do.
Computer-driven global climate models (GCMs) are one of the primary tools used today in climate research, but until now they could not have been much more than a “black box” to the general public. As a practical matter, few educators have had access to GCMs, which typically required supercomputing facilities and skilled programmers to run. The resulting lack of familiarity with climate modeling techniques has often engendered public distrust of important scientific findings based on such methodologies.
EdGCM changes all this by providing a research-grade GCM with a user-friendly interface that can be run on a desktop computer. For the first time, students can explore the subject of climate change in the same way that actual research scientists do. In the process of using EdGCM, students will become knowledgeable about a topic that will surely affect their lives, and we will better prepare the next generation of scientists who will grapple with a myriad of complex climate issues.
Our goal is to improve the quality of teaching and learning of climate-change science through broader access to GCMs, and to provide appropriate technology and materials to help educators use these models effectively. With research-quality resources in place, linking classrooms to actual research projects is not only possible, but can also be beneficial to the education and research communities alike.
The EdGCM Project has been supported at times by the National Science Foundation’s Paleoclimate Program and NASA’s Earth Science Division as well as by the NASA Global Climate Change Education program and NASA’s Innovations in Climate Education Program. We gratefully acknowledge the help of the scientists and programmers at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies who have worked for decades developing Global Climate Models, including the model at the core of EdGCM. Model development at GISS is supported by NASA’s Modeling, Analysis and Prediction program. The source code for the NASA climate model used in EdGCM – GISS Model II – is public domain and, although no longer available from NASA is maintained here: GISS Model II GCM
EdGCM is a project of Columbia University and is not an official NASA activity. All license fees for the software go to the Trustees of Columbia University and are used to pay for equipment, network connections, and support services for the EdGCM Project.
Pretty Cool—Try it!
You can explore an actual climate model (the one used in the video above) by clicking here: http://earth.nullschool.net
Once there, use the graphics below and at right to learn how to navigate the model.
At first glance, it may look complicated, but it’s really not. Give it a shot and see.
The Climate Web is the first effort to curate and organize the work of hundreds of individuals and organizations producing insightful and actionable information and knowledge. Using innovative TheBrain™ software, the Climate Web™ pulls together information from more than a dozen relevant disciplines. It organizes books, reports, presentations, news stories, actionable knowledgeand websites as individual “thoughts.” But it doesn’t stop there. It goes further — extracting and linking tables, figures, presentation slides, and even specific ideas into “thoughts” that help you find “actionable knowledge.”
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