Earth: Climate and Weather - National Geographic - 24hToday — Transcript

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1. 0:04Climate and weather together they are
2. 0:06among the most influential forces on
3. 0:08Earth.
4. 0:10One can influence where and how we
5. 0:12choose to live. The other often
6. 0:14determines what we do, where we go, and
7. 0:16what we wear each day. Climate refers to
8. 0:20the average weather conditions of a
9. 0:21place over a long period of time.
10. 0:25The Earth has six main climate zones.
11. 0:27Some are mild and inviting, like the
12. 0:29Mediterranean climate of southern
13. 0:31Europe. Others are harsh, like the arid
14. 0:33deserts of Northern Africa and the
15. 0:36frozen tundra of Greenland. Through
16. 0:38history, climate has often played a part
17. 0:40in where people have chosen to settle.
18. 0:42In the ancient world, some of the first
19. 0:45permanent human communities occurred in
20. 0:47places with hospitable climates. But
21. 0:49humans have long had an amazing capacity
22. 0:51to cope with more severe and challenging
23. 0:53climates. Today, with widespread use of
24. 0:56refrigeration for foods and of air
25. 0:58conditioning and heating for homes,
26. 1:01humans can survive in all climates,
27. 1:03including the frozen desert of
28. 1:04Antarctica, or the blazing heat of Death
29. 1:07Valley, California, where temperatures
30. 1:09can soar above 130°.
31. 1:14Weather, on the other hand, refers to
32. 1:16the day-to-day conditions of the Earth's
33. 1:17atmosphere at a particular place in
34. 1:19time.
35. 1:21Weather can be glorious or annoying.
36. 1:25It can also be devastating.
37. 1:28Severe weather can destroy homes and
38. 1:30property,
39. 1:32transportation, ruin crops, and
40. 1:35create havoc for people caught in its
41. 1:37path. In the United States, weather
42. 1:40causes on average more than 11.4 billion
43. 1:43in damages each year. About 15% of that
44. 1:46damage occurs in Florida alone, a state
45. 1:48that sees more than its share of
46. 1:50hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes.
47. 1:54An accurate weather forecast can make it
48. 1:56possible for people to prepare for
49. 1:58severe conditions before they strike.
50. 2:01In cases of hurricanes, tornadoes, and
51. 2:04floods, a warning can save lives by
52. 2:06giving people time to get out of harm's
53. 2:08way.
54. 2:10With so much at stake, atmospheric
55. 2:12scientists, called meteorologists, are
56. 2:15working with new technologies to find
57. 2:17better ways to forecast the weather.
58. 2:19Powerful computers process atmospheric
59. 2:21information to create weather maps and
60. 2:23models.
61. 2:26Radars track storms on the move and can
62. 2:29detect rain up to 250 m away.
63. 2:33Weather satellites look down on the
64. 2:35Earth from space, monitoring everything
65. 2:37from cloud cover and precipitation to
66. 2:40lightning strikes and fluctuations in
67. 2:42the temperature of the oceans.
68. 2:45There are even research planes that fly
69. 2:47into hurricanes to help scientists learn
70. 2:49about the inner workings of some of the
71. 2:51planet's deadliest storms.
72. 2:55In some cases, the study of meteorology
73. 2:57can be a nail-biting adventure as
74. 2:59scientists risk their lives to study
75. 3:01tornadoes and other dangerous weather
76. 3:03phenomena.
77. 3:07As scientists continue to study weather
78. 3:10patterns and behavior, we can expect to
79. 3:12find more ways to predict its course.
80. 3:14And the next time severe weather
81. 3:16strikes, perhaps we'll be ready.