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ESARC Environmental Systems Analysis Research Center |
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Climate and environmental change can occur naturally or as a result of human activities. Human-induced ("anthropogenic") environmental change includes land-cover changes such as deforestation, as well as atmospheric changes such as emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are most probably responsible for much of the unusually warm global-mean temperatures in the most recent two decades and the recent changes apparent in the Arctic. Monitoring, detecting and understanding climate and environmental change involves collecting and analyzing reliable observational data – satellite remote-sensing and other instrumental measurements, historical and paleo-environmental records, i.e., proxy data that are related to climate. Historical and proxy data are needed to provide the longer term perspective, because the climate system naturally varies across of range of temporal and spatial scales – an apparent trend or short-term change may be only part of natural up-and-down variability on longer time scales. ESARC focuses on large-scale, regional and global climate and environmental change, using a range of observational and modeling data and methods. Subject
areas: § Monitoring the polar ice covers – Arctic sea-ice variability and recent trends § Detection and diagnosis of oceanic and climate change on decadal to century time scales, from instrumental measurements, historical observations and paleo-environmental proxy data § Monitoring changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet and icebergs §
Monitoring
changes in the boreal forests (taiga)
Eurasia, the Earth's largest coniferous forest stands Methods
and techniques: §
Satellite
remote-sensing data analysis § Exploratory data analysis and quantitative analysis of long time series § Statistical assessments §
Analysis
of numerical modeling output Geographical
Areas: § The
Arctic, including Greenland § North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent
areas § Northern Eurasia, including Siberia and Russia
For further information, please contact us at: info@esarc-colorado.org
Last updated on February 14, 2005.
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