Climate Care

Now-a-days we hear about Climate Change more often than before. Climate change is a global phenomenon and the term “Climate Change" is indeed a straightforward expression for such a complex subject. In fact, it has more than we can comprehend from this phrase and that is why it is quite essential to go at defining climate change in today's scenario.

In the present glossary of researchers and scientists, climate modification as a term is no longer in use and effect. The reason behind this is that we have come to realize the effect of the changes we make to our environment will eventually increase the temperature in many parts of the world, but at the same time will also be decrease in temperature for few parts of the planet. This however, creates a general imbalance in the climate of the world which in turn leads us to the phrase, “Climate Change."

While wondering the effects of this phenomenon, the things you know of as climate modification is actually referred to as global a global phenomenon of climate change. However, with all the details and statistics we have in hand at present, we can definitely conclude that the world is unquestionably warming with the temperatures rising like never before.

This is a global problem with many natural disasters started taking shape; the general awareness of this factor is really low. For the better understanding of the issues associated with this phenomenon, we require a simple definition in relation to the warming of the planet. And this definition needs to be the one that brings us the essence of this problem without compromising the simplicities.

However, the easiest and most precise definition is that it is the effect greenhouse gases have on the earth's overall climate. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide and methane, but are not limited to these two.

While learning more about this issue, we need to understand few important facts associated with it. The first fact is that it is both a natural phenomena and one catalyzed by us. For instance, greenhouse gases are a natural part of the biosphere and would exist if man did not. In fact, these gases are a vital component to the existence of life on this planet.

It is due to the existence of the greenhouse gases, the temperature on planet earth does not average zero degrees! These naturally occurring gases help to keep the temperature at a desirable 59 degrees. But, the climate change, which is due to the greenhouse gases, is not indeed natural. In fact, the problem we are facing is the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

These gases act as thermal blankets for the atmosphere. The more gas in the atmosphere, the thicker the blanket and the less heat escapes from earth. In the last 80years, we have been releasing these gases into our atmosphere and thus helping them to form a blanket.

On the other hand, we are reducing forests around the planet, which are the natural plant collection that absorb greenhouse gases. This double whammy is starting to show negative results, the increased heating of our world, and thus the beginning of the dreaded climate change.

Now-a-days we hear about Climate Change more often than before. Climate change is a global phenomenon and the term "Climate Change" is indeed a straightforward expression for such a complex subject. In fact, it has more than we can comprehend from this phrase and that is why it is quite essential to go at defining climate change in today's scenario.

In the present glossary of researchers and scientists, climate modification as a term is no longer in use and effect. The reason behind this is that we have come to realize the effect of the changes we make to our environment will eventually increase the temperature in many parts of the world, but at the same time will also be decrease in temperature for few parts of the planet. This however, creates a general imbalance in the climate of the world which in turn leads us to the phrase, "Climate Change."

While wondering the effects of this phenomenon, the things you know of as climate modification is actually referred to as global a global phenomenon of climate change. However, with all the details and statistics we have in hand at present, we can definitely conclude that the world is unquestionably warming with the temperatures rising like never before.

This is a global problem with many natural disasters started taking shape; the general awareness of this factor is really low. For the better understanding of the issues associated with this phenomenon, we require a simple definition in relation to the warming of the planet. And this definition needs to be the one that brings us the essence of this problem without compromising the simplicities.

However, the easiest and most precise definition is that it is the effect greenhouse gases have on the earth's overall climate. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide and methane, but are not limited to these two.

While learning more about this issue, we need to understand few important facts associated with it. The first fact is that it is both a natural phenomena and one catalyzed by us. For instance, greenhouse gases are a natural part of the biosphere and would exist if man did not. In fact, these gases are a vital component to the existence of life on this planet.

It is due to the existence of the greenhouse gases, the temperature on planet earth does not average zero degrees! These naturally occurring gases help to keep the temperature at a desirable 59 degrees. But, the climate change, which is due to the greenhouse gases, is not indeed natural. In fact, the problem we are facing is the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

These gases act as thermal blankets for the atmosphere. The more gas in the atmosphere, the thicker the blanket and the less heat escapes from earth. In the last 80years, we have been releasing these gases into our atmosphere and thus helping them to form a blanket.

On the other hand, we are reducing forests around the planet, which are the natural plant collection that absorb greenhouse gases. This double whammy is starting to show negative results, the increased heating of our world, and thus the beginning of the dreaded climate change.

Until the end of the 20th Century, most scientists thought they understood the nature of our climate system. As the very foundation of their science, geologists cherished the "uniformitarian principle" that held that the fundamental forces that molded the Earth's features and climate were gradual, natural, stable processes that did not vary over time scales less than tens of thousands of years.

This idea became central to their training through a century of debate over natural catastrophes such as the biblical account of Noah's flood. The concept of catastrophic climate change became 'tainted by association' with creationist zealots seeking scientific backing for fundamentalist interpretations of Bible passages. And so, such stories came to be considered as purely supernatural events, with no place within the objectivity of science.

Any evidence to the contrary...and there was, in retrospect, plenty of it... was at first readily dismissed. Sudden climate change in the Earth's past was blurred by imperfect data and lack of refinement in early scientific methods. Where abrupt changes in the geological record were indisputable, these were written off as regional curiosities, arising from purely local impacts - such as a forest fire or the introduction of agriculture - impacts that had nothing to do with climate.

Until dating methods were perfected, chronological correlation of data collected at different locations around the globe was not possible, and even when it was possible, was not at first even pursued. Global changes in climate had different effects in different areas, further complicating the issue and obscuring the true scope of abrupt, world-wide climate shifts.

In fact, the uniformitarian climate paradigm was scarcely doubted until the 1950's when a group of scientists set up a physical ocean system model that demonstrated that circulation could flip rapidly from one stable state to another. Scientists began to concede that change may only take thousands of years.

This view of the change-rate capacity of climate was reduced to mere hundreds of years in subsequent decades, beginning in the early 1960's when mathematical models that incorporated climate feedback factors such as snow and ice cover (albedo effects) suggested that global climate really could change enormously in a relatively short time.

In the mid 1960's deep sea sediment cores finally revealed that the planet had experienced several ice-age cycles of gradual glacial buildups over 90,000 year intervals, punctuated by more rapid 10,000 year de-glaciations. Because of the huge lag between global climate shifts and deep sea temperature responses, even this data belied the extreme magnitude of changes on the surface oceans, land masses and atmosphere.

However, with their old ideas now challenged by these new theories, scientists began to notice the evidence of abrupt changes in their data. Pollen records and improved carbon dating techniques in the 1970's depicted stable climate periods interrupted by radical discontinuities that took only one or two centuries to totally change the vegetation of a region.

Since then, evidence from other studies such as cores of glacial ice and ocean sediments, has continued to accumulate as methodologies have been progressively refined. This has further built justification for heroic research, by intrepid teams braving hazardous conditions on heaving oceans or bitter, high altitude polar ice sheets, to win samples deep and distinct enough to provide an unambiguous picture of the Earth's geological and climatic past, a picture that shows that violent, spectacular short-term shifts were common.

As a result, scientists en masse were beginning to entertain the possibility of abrupt change, this new attitude reflected in a statement from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in a 1996 report that concluded that 'climate surprises' were possible. The point was not emphasized at the time, and received little press attention. Many scientists also passively rejected the facts by refusing to revise their accustomed ways of thinking about climate.

Not until 2000 did paired ice-cores, extracted by competing teams in Greenland, match to show irrevocable proof of abrupt climate shifts taking effect over mere decades (see R.B. Alley's book 'The Two-Mile Time Machine'). Similar cores were drilled in Antarctica and revealed the global scale of the shifts. This forced the climate community to arrive at consensus.

Now respected climate scientists concur that the potential for fast climate change evidently does exist, and could surprise humanity with a climate shock within the lifetimes of you and I. However, the new paradigm has not extended beyond geoscientists to the impacts community - economists and other specialists are slow to turn their attention to the consequences of climate change, and policy makers and the public are even more ignorant of the risks humanity faces.

Because science has been late to wake up to climate change, crucial information about the potential behavior of our climate has only very recently come to light. Relentlessly emerging climate surprises have thrown into painful relief just how inadequate our understanding of the climate system remains. Like a snowball rolling down a mountain, climate change is gathering momentum, racing ahead of even the most pessimistic predictions.

Will you be ready?

The Orlando Climate is sub tropical. The weather tends to be warm and humid. The climate is influenced by several factors. The Gulf Stream and the city's proximity to the Tropic of Cancer affect the climate. The low elevation of the city adds to the humidity level. There are two basic seasons in Florida: a hot summer season and cooler winter season.

Orlando Climate in the Summer Season:
During the summer season, the weather is hot and humid. The average temperature during the day is in the nineties. At night, the temperatures range from the seventies to the eighties. The heat index during the day can get quite high. A heat index of over one hundred degrees is not uncommon.

The summer is also the rainy season in Florida. Storms are quite common, especially in the late afternoon. Most of these storms are caused by air from the Atlantic and air from the Gulf colliding over central Florida. At times, these storms can be quite violent. The storms often bring wind, thunder, lightening and hail. Orlando is known for more lightening strikes each year than any other city in the United States.

The rainfall during these storms can be very heavy. The months from June through September bring the most rain to Orlando. The average rain fall during these months is about fifty inches. In some years, this number is even higher. Often, the storms are strong, but short lived. You will usually be able to enjoy the evening outdoors after a storm. Unlike some areas of the country, the rain does not cool the temperature. Often the humidity is even higher just after a thunderstorm.

Hurricane season also occurs in the summer. The official hurricane season runs from June through November. Since Orlando is not on the coast, the city often escapes the brunt of the storm's landfall. By the time most storms reach the city, they have weakened considerably. However, this doesn't mean the city is safe from these strong and unpredictable storms. The city has sustained damage from several storms over the years.

Orlando Climate in the Winter Season:
In the winter, you will know why Florida is called The Sunshine State. There is very little rainfall during this season. Most days are dry and sunny. The weather in the winter really is beautiful. This is a fabulous time to plan a trip to Florida. Many tourists flock to the area during this season to escape the freezing temperatures in the northern part of the country.

The months of December through May are the driest months of the year. In some years, the weather is way too dry during the winter months. This increases the risk of wild fires in central Florida. In the past, these have gotten quite severe.

The temperatures in the winter season are very mild. The average daily temperature ranges from the mid sixties to the seventies. The night time temperatures are generally in the fifties. There is virtually no snow in the Orlando area. The few times there have been flurries, they don't accumulate. If you want to escape the winter, this is the place to come.