Climate research provides the foundation for understanding and mitigating the effects of climate change. From oceans to forests and even people, climate change is impacting our planet in ways we’re only beginning to understand. It’s also changing the way we live. Scientists use a wide variety of tools to track climate trends and how humans and wildlife adapt to them. They study ice cores to see what Earth’s environment was like in the past, sample air to monitor atmospheric gases and examine trees to learn how climate influences ecosystems. They also build computer models that can forecast future climate conditions.
These studies help us better understand how changes to our world’s chemistry are likely to affect things like storm strength, the length of growing seasons in different places and the ranges of insects that carry dangerous diseases. They can help us understand how our economies and societies might be impacted as a result of climate change and develop strategies to cope with the challenges it presents.
Across the globe, scientists are working on climate change projects in a broad range of areas from agriculture and energy to health and security. They are often collaborating with colleagues in other countries, including those that have been hit hard by climate-related issues such as droughts and floods. They are also sharing their findings with their fellow researchers, the media and the public.
The scientific publication record since 1900 has two distinct records for the topic of climate (CL) and for climate change/global warming/climate emergency (CC/GW/CE). While the overall trends for these two topics are similar, their patterns differ by country, as shown in this analysis.