The study of clouds (where they occur, their characteristics, etc) plays a key role in the understanding of climate change. This site discusses how the relative thickness and altitude of various cloud types result in their either reflecting solar radiation or transmitting and trapping it, thereby warming Earth's surface. It features text, a scientific illustration, and links to other relevant topics and datasets.

This site provides a brief description of the Dustbowl in the American Great Plains during the 1930s and relates its effects to what is occurring presently in the Sahel of North Africa. In this dry savannah environment, human activity coupled with prolonged drought are causing desertification. The site features text, satellite imagery, and links to other related materials.

The ocean and atmosphere each react to changes in the other. These reactions and counter-reactions can snowball until the system builds to a point where potentially disastrous effects occur, such as the El Nino events of 1982-83 and 1997-98. This site describes how the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's TOPEX-Poseidon satellite was used to monitor the amount of sea level rise in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, and consequently the amount of heat stored in the water. Sea level and temperature data from TOPEX-Poseidon was used successfully to predict the 1997-98 El Nino event earlier than ever before. It features text, remotely-sensed imagery and a link to JPL's Physical Oceanography website.

This webpage, one of NASA's fact sheets, describes the role of the oceans, clouds, and aerosols in moderating climate, which has resulted in less-than-expected temperature increases as carbon dioxide levels have increased. It also describes the efforts of scientists to construct computer models to understand interactions between the atmosphere and ocean, and to perform space-based oceanography using the Earth Observing System (EOS). The site features text, pictures, and links to other relevant NASA sites.

The ocean and atmosphere continually exchange particles and gases in a kind of ongoing "dialogue" that influences regional and global climate. This site explains the chemical link between the ocean and atmosphere. Emphasis is on the ocean's ability to store and release water vapor and carbon dioxide, both of which contribute to the greenhouse effect. Features include text, a scientific illustration, and links to other relevant topics, data sets, and satellite missions.

This page is part of NASA's Earth Observatory website. It features text and a scientific illustration to describe how the ocean interacts with the atmosphere, physically exchanging heat, water, and momentum. It also includes links to related data sets, other ocean fact sheets, and relevant satellite missions.

Milutin Milankovitch formulated a comprehensive mathematical model that calculated latitudinal differences in solar radiation upon the Earth's surface and the corresponding surface temperatures for 600,000 years prior to the year 1800. Readers can learn how Milankovitch developed his theories and how they were confirmed years later by climatic data found in deep-sea sediment cores, which indicated that major variations in climate such as ice ages were closely associated with changes in the geometry of Earth's orbit. This is part of NASA's Earth Observatory series of publications entitled "On the Shoulders of Giants," which are about scientists who revolutionized our understanding of the atmosphere, oceans, climate, and environment.

Much like El Nino, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) varies in a rhythmic pattern from decade to decade. The NAO is the relationship between a high-pressure system over the Azores Islands and a low-pressure system over Iceland. This site uses text, photographs, and maps to explain what the NAO is and how it affects weather in Europe, the United States, and as far away as the Middle East.

Visitors to this site can view satellite imagery and read an account of how remote sensing was employed to evaluate the extent of flooding and sediment load in rivers on the coastal plain of North Carolina as a result of Hurricane Floyd in September, 1999. This feature is part of NASA's Earth Observatory, a publication that focuses on Earth's climate and environmental change.

Vortices of water, called "eddies," form off the northwestern coast of North America in the winter, and are particularly large during El Nino winters. Users can read and view satellite imagery which explains how these eddies carry nutrient-rich water offshore, providing nourishment for phytoplankton, microscopic plants which form the foundation of the marine food chain. This is part of NASA's Earth Observatory, a collection of publications featuring satellite imagery and information about Earth.

Major volcanic eruptions alter the Earth's radiative balance, as volcanic ash and gas clouds absorb terrestrial radiation and scatter a significant amount of the incoming solar radiation, an effect known as "radiative forcing" that can last from two to three years following a volcanic eruption. This results in reduced temperatures in the troposphere, and changes in atmospheric circulation patterns. This site uses text, photographs, and links to related sites to describe volcano-induced climate change.

Visitors to this site can study a discussion of the need for computer modeling to examine the terrestrial biosphere. Emphasis is placed on integration of multiple measurements across varying scales of time and space into a single tool for visualizing a system, and its use in predicting future changes. Links to a glossary are embedded in the text.