Climate

Climate describes what the average of weather will be over a period of time. It will include not just the mean, but the variability and extremes, as these can have big impacts.  Climate is usually defined for different seasons or months, and averaged over a period of 30 years – currently the period 1971-2000 is used.  So we might read for a particular place that “The average maximum temperature in July is 25°C, with typically 2 days hotter than 30°C”, or “The average rainfall for June is a total of 35mm, with 10 days of no rain and 3 days where rainfall is more than 5mm”.

Here you can explore some of the UK’s most established climatological data sets and related climate statistics produced by the UK’s National Climate Information Centre.

"Pathway 2050" a look at different pathways

The 2050 Pathways work presents a framework through which to considers some of the choices and trade-offs we will have to make over the next forty years

Carbon Footprint: Interactive calculator

Why not use this interactive tool to calculate your own and your family's carbon footprint with this carbon calculator?

Some important datasets

Long time series of observations are important in detecting the changes in our climate.  Here are some interesting climate datasets used in the studies of climate change.  See data >>

Links to sites dealing with the Science of Climate Change

The Met Office's Hadley Centre

The Tyndall Centre

The Walker Institute

The Grantham Institute

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Weather Clips on Youtube

Dr Vicky Pope, Met Office Hadley Centre

Prof John Mitchell, FRS, Met Office Hadley Centre

Dr Mat Collins,Met Office Hadley Centre

Other general sites about Climate Change

Government Climate Change Page

Your Climate, Your Life

Climate Controversies

Read About Climate Change and Health