Climate Change
climate change
A change in temperature, precipitation, or wind of a region, lasting for an extended period of a decade or longer.
global warming
An increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere (especially a steady increase that causes changes in climate).
fluctuation
Frequent irregular change back and forth from one state or degree to another.
obliquity
The change in the axis tilt angle
el nino
a change in the water temperature in the Pacific Ocean that produces a warm current, a weather pattern created by the warming of the waters off the west coast of South America, which pushes warm water and heavy rains toward the Americas and produces drought conditions in Australia and Asia.
la nina
a cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America, occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years and affecting Pacific and other weather patterns.
correlation
a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.
millenia
a period of 1000 years
severity
harshness; intensity; seriousness
eccentricity
the degree of elongation of an elliptical orbit
precession
the motion of a spinning body (as a top) in which it wobbles so that the axis of rotation sweeps out a cone
greenhouse effect
the natural warming of the surface and lower atmosphere of Earth that occurs when carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases in the air absorb and reradiate infrared radiation
