NAO: Driving Climate Across the Atlantic
Educator Resources for "NAO: Driving Climate Across the Atlantic"
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The NAO is a complex climate system, influencing local weather in various regions. What is the NAO, and how does it work?
- What is a positive NAO phase? What are some examples of weather conditions caused by a positive phase?
- What is a negative NAO phase? What are some examples of weather conditions caused by a negative phase?
- How do the weather patterns the NAO creates affect local economies?
- What has caused renewed interest in the NAO?
Studying the NAO requires an enormous amount of data on numerous weather and climate phenomena. What are some of the challenges in collecting this data?
- What problems do scientists run into when trying to predict an NAO trend?
- Why is having data from so many NAO’s of the past so important?
- How far back can scientists go to gather data on the NAO? Can they determine what the NAO pattern was like a million years ago?
Related Links
- Searching for Atlantic Rhythms: Winter Weather & the North Atlantic Oscillation
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/NAO/
This detailed article contains lots of interesting facts and visuals about the North Atlantic Oscillation. - AIRS: NASA’s New Satellite Takes On Global Climate Change
http://airs.jpl.nasa.gov/features/climate_change/intro.html
Read about how the atmospheric infrared sounder satellite, AIRS, can be used to detect large-scale global climate change. - Athena Curriculum: Weather
http://vathena.arc.nasa.gov/curric/weather/hsweathr/
Is weather prediction an exact science? Find out the answer to this question and many more by exploring this fascinating site, which also has links to activities. - JPL: Weather
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/earth/weather_climate/weather_climate_index.cfm
Learn how trying to predict the weather helps scientists deepen their understanding of the Earth’s dynamic nature.
