HS-ESS2-4

Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth systems result in changes in climate.

  1. Chemistry

    Particles in air help fatten clouds’ water droplets

    Making their own clouds has shown scientists how the fattest water droplets form. Understanding this could lead to better forecasts of climate change.

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  2. Climate

    Concerns about Earth’s fever

    Burning fossil fuels is causing the planet to heat up, causing weather patterns to change, sea levels to rise and diseases to spread.

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  3. Climate

    Explainer: How scientists know Earth is warming

    Scientists can calculate global temperatures, both present and past. Their findings show that the planet is rapidly heating up.

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  4. Climate

    Picture This: Biggest hurricane in the West

    The hurricane that’s storming into western Mexico has had higher sustained winds than any seen in the Western Hemisphere. It’s also got the lowest atmospheric pressure, making it a monster storm.

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  5. Climate

    New El Niño coming on strong

    The current El Niño event could be a record breaker, changing weather patterns worldwide and bringing rain to drought-parched California.

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  6. Climate

    Warming’s role in extreme weather

    Extremes in temperature and precipitation will be more common as global temperatures rise. Human-led climate change is largely to blame, a new study finds.

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  7. Climate

    Cosmic rays offer clues about lightning

    Space particles called cosmic rays pelt Earth. Scientists are using the rain of these particles to probe how lightning forms.

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  8. Environment

    Arctic warming bolsters summer heat

    Rapid warming in the Arctic is sapping summer storms of their power to cool. That worsens heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere.

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  9. Climate

    Scientists confirm ‘greenhouse’ effect of human’s CO2

    Government scientists link directly, for the first time, a boost in warming at Earth’s surface to increasing levels of carbon dioxide. Much of that gas has been released by human activities, such as coal burning and gas-burning vehicles.

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  10. Climate

    Lightning strikes will surge with climate change

    Warming temperatures will lead to 50 percent more lightning strikes across the 48 U.S. states in the next century, researchers report. That increase could lead to more warming, more fires and even more deaths.

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  11. Climate

    Explainer: Why a tornado forms

    Tornadoes start with a thunderstorm. But they also require other ingredients, such as instability.

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  12. Climate

    Explainer: El Niño and La Niña

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