Climatology is the scientific discipline within the atmospheric sciences that investigates the statistical behavior, physical processes, and dynamics of the climate system over periods from decades to millennia. It analyzes long-term patterns and variability of atmospheric variables such as temperature, precipitation, radiation, and circulation, and their coupling with oceans, cryosphere, land surface, and biosphere. Climatology employs observational datasets, reanalyses, paleoclimate proxies, and numerical climate models to quantify mean states, extremes, teleconnections, and feedbacks, and to attribute observed changes to internal variability and external forcings, including solar, volcanic, and anthropogenic influences.
A new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem challenges a long-held assumption in climate science by showing that aerosols—tiny particles suspended in the atmosphere—can either warm or cool the climate, depending on ...
Environment
Jun 8, 2026
0
18
Large volcanic eruptions may have played a bigger role in triggering historical famines across China than previously understood, according to a new study that traced links between eruptions, climate disruption, and food shortages ...
Storm Dave, which swept across northern Europe over the Easter weekend, is an example of what new research from the University of Gothenburg has revealed. Spring storms forming over the North Atlantic have become more common ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 5, 2026
0
13
Arctic communities are increasingly exposed to dangerous weather events due to climate change and rely on accurate weather forecasts. However, conditions in the lower atmosphere remain poorly observed in the Arctic because ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 4, 2026
0
6
A hailstorm can undo a season's work in minutes. It can strike quickly and unevenly, shredding wheat, bruising fruit, flattening crops—while also leaving neighboring paddocks untouched. In a new Nature Climate Change study, ...
Environment
Jun 3, 2026
0
8
Accurate measurements are the foundation of effective environmental management and decision-making. Through advanced monitoring networks and computer models, Ken Davis, professor of meteorology and atmospheric science in ...
Environment
Jun 2, 2026
0
8
Atmospheric rivers act like "rivers in the sky," shuttling intense bands of warm, heavy moisture from lower to higher latitudes. When an atmospheric river encounters cold air or mountainous terrain, the moisture it carries ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 2, 2026
0
11
Nearly 69 million people in the United States speak a language other than English at home, yet weather warnings have long been issued almost exclusively in English. A new study documents how the National Weather Service is ...
Environment
Jun 2, 2026
0
5
Mid-latitude Asian drylands, stretching from Central Asia to northern China, are among the largest dryland systems in the world. Home to extensive agricultural activities and fragile ecosystems, the region is highly vulnerable ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 1, 2026
0
16
The Indian monsoon has shifted over the past quarter century. Northwest India now receives substantially more rain than it once did, while a lack of rain sends the Indo-Gangetic Plain toward drought.
Earth Sciences
Jun 1, 2026
0
837
