Climate

Climate is the statistics (usually, mean or variability) of weather, usually over a 30-year interval. It is measured by assessing the patterns of variation in temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological variables in a given region over long periods of time. Climate differs from weather, in that weather only describes the short-term conditions of these variables in a given region.

A region's climate is generated by the climate system, which has five components: atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere.

The climate of a location is affected by its latitude, terrain, and altitude, as well as nearby water bodies and their currents. Climates can be classified according to the average and the typical ranges of different variables, most commonly temperature and precipitation. The most commonly used classification scheme was Köppen climate classification originally developed by Wladimir Köppen. The Thornthwaite system, in use since 1948, incorporates evapotranspiration along with temperature and precipitation information and is used in studying biological diversity and the potential effects on it of climate changes. The Bergeron and Spatial Synoptic Classification systems focus on the origin of air masses that define the climate of a region.

Climate change

Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time (i.e., decades to millions of years). Climate change may refer to a change in average weather conditions, or in the time variation of weather around longer-term average conditions (i.e., more or fewer extreme weather events). Climate change is caused by factors such as biotic processes, variations in solar radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics, and volcanic eruptions. Certain human activities have also been identified as significant causes of recent climate change, often referred to as "global warming".

Scientists actively work to understand past and future climate by using observations and theoretical models. A climate record—extending deep into the Earth's past—has been assembled, and continues to be built up, based on geological evidence from borehole temperature profiles, cores removed from deep accumulations of ice, floral and faunal records, glacial and periglacial processes, stable-isotope and other analyses of sediment layers, and records of past sea levels. More recent data are provided by the instrumental record. General circulation models, based on the physical sciences, are often used in theoretical approaches to match past climate data, make future projections, and link causes and effects in climate change.

The Climate Reality Project

The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. The project was established in July 2011 after the joining of two environmental groups, The Alliance for Climate Protection and The Climate Project, which were both founded in 2006 by Al Gore. Among its activities, The Climate Reality Project hosts an annual event called 24 Hours of Reality and, in 2013, launched Reality Drop, a social media tool.

Overview

The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization focused on climate change education and countering climate change denial campaigns worldwide. The organization was established following the consolidation of two environmental organizations, the Alliance for Climate Protection and The Climate Project, which were both founded in 2006 by former Vice President Al Gore. Gore has described the group as bipartisan.

Gore currently serves as chairman of the board of directors. Ken Berlin is The Climate Reality Project's president and CEO. Operation of The Climate Reality Project is overseen by a board of directors whose members include Sherwood Boehlert,James Gustave Speth, Cindy Horn, Larry Schweiger, and Theodore Roosevelt IV, in addition to chairman Gore.

Wisconsin Educational Communications Board

The Wisconsin Educational Communications Board (WECB) is a Wisconsin state agency committed to ensuring that public radio and public television programs and services are made available throughout Wisconsin, and that these programs and services reflect and respond to the educational and cultural needs of the state's residents. The ECB plans, develops, constructs and operates statewide public radio, public television, and educational telecommunication systems. ECB operates Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Extension. In addition, The ECB is responsible for maintaining NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards stations in Wisconsin and the state's Amber Alert network.

The agency also has cooperative relationships with and provides educational and instructional programming for public television stations WDSE-TV/Duluth-Superior and Milwaukee Public Television, as well as with several University of Wisconsin System college radio stations. In addition, The ECB assists others in the public sector to meet their needs through the use of telecommunications. In October 2014, these efforts for the most part moved to the online-only Wisconsin Media Lab site which has allowed WPT, MPTV and WDSE to free up their television schedules for other content.

Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is an environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who became its first president.

Traditionally associated with the progressive movement, the club was one of the first large-scale environmental preservation organizations in the world, and currently engages in lobbying politicians to promote green policies. In recent years, the club has gravitated toward green politics and especially toward bright green environmentalism. Recent focuses of the club include promoting green energy, mitigating global warming, and opposing coal.

In addition to political advocacy, the Sierra Club organizes outdoor recreation activities, and is a notable organization for mountaineering and rock climbing in the United States, having pioneered the Yosemite Decimal System of climbing. The Sierra Club does not set standards for or regulate alpinism, but it organizes wilderness courses, hikes, rock climbs, and alpine expeditions for members.