What are the seasons? Find out what causes them and when they start?
Why are we bothered? Because the weather and seasons affect us all. As individuals and as a business. The Met Office report goes on to say
“We often talk about the seasons – spring, summer, autumn and winter – and the weather that they bring, but what causes them and when do they begin and end? The Met Office goes on to talk about Climate change which once again affects us all. The Met Office goes on to highlight important aspects
“Climate change is a large-scale, long-term shift in the planet’s weather patterns or average temperatures. Earth has had tropical climates and ice ages many times in its 4.5 billion years. So what’s happening now?
Since the last ice age, which ended about 11,000 years ago, Earth’s climate has been relatively stable at about 14 °C. However, in recent years, the average temperature has been increasing.
The information below details the seven main sources of evidence for climate change. You can find out more about the difference between weather and climate, what drives our climate and how our climate is changing in our climate infographic or scroll to the foot of this page for our video – What is climate change?
Higher temperatures
Scientific research shows that the climate – that is, the average temperature of the planet’s surface – has risen by 0.89 °C from 1901 to 2012. Compared with climate change patterns throughout Earth’s history, the rate of temperature rise since the Industrial Revolution is extremely high.
Changing rainfall
There have been observed changes in precipitation, but not all areas have data over long periods. Rainfall has increased in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere since the beginning of the 20th century. There are also changes between seasons in different regions. For example, the UK’s summer rainfall is decreasing on average, while winter rainfall is increasing. There is also evidence that heavy rainfall events have become more intensive, especially over North America.
Changes in nature
Changes in the seasons (such as the UK spring starting earlier, autumn starting later) are bringing changes in the behaviour of species, for example, butterflies appearing earlier in the year and birds shifting their migration patterns”.
In addition Urban heat island is discussed in wikepedia it reports “ An urban heat island (UHI) is a metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. The phenomenon was first investigated and described by Luke Howard in the 1810s, although he was not the one to name the phenomenon”