Page 27 - Earth's Climate Past and Future
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CHAPTER 1
Overview of Climate
Science
Life exists nearly everywhere on Earth because the climate is favorable. We
live in the climate system: the air, land surfaces, oceans, ice, and vegetation.
Climate change is also an important thread in the tapestry of Earth history,
along with the evolution of life and the physical form of this planet.
But the study of climate also matters for a practical reason: it is relevant to
the climatic changes we face in the near future. We have left an era when nat-
ural changes governed Earth’s climate and have now entered a time when
changes caused by human activity predominate.
This chapter surveys the factors that cause Earth’s climate to change. It also
reviews how the field of climate science came into being, how scientists study
climate, and how an understanding of the history of climate change helps to
inform us about changes looming in our near future.
