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Climate Scientist
Studies Earth's climate system — past, present, and future — and models climate change impacts.
Did you know?
Ice cores from Antarctica contain air bubbles that are 800,000 years old — they tell us what ancient climates were like
How subjects help
- Physics: Understand how greenhouse gases trap heat and warm the air, land and oceans.
- Chemistry: Test air bubbles trapped in ancient ice to learn what the atmosphere was like long ago.
- Mathematics: Build computer models that predict how temperature and rainfall will change in future.
- Geography: Show how rising seas and heatwaves will affect coasts, farms and cities differently.
A famous name
James Hansen: NASA climate scientist whose 1988 testimony to the US Congress helped alert the world to global warming.
Try it yourself: Be a weather watcher for a week
- Put the jar outside in an open spot, away from roofs and trees.
- At the same time each day, measure the water depth in millimetres, write it down, then empty the jar.
- Also note the sky each day: sunny, cloudy, windy, rainy.
- After a week, look for a pattern. Try to forecast tomorrow, then check if you were right.
Meteorologists, climate scientists and hydrologists all start with careful, regular measurements, then look for patterns over days or many years.
Also try: Float fresh water on the sea.
Known for it in
USA, UK, Germany, Norway, Australia