Skip to content

Illustrative: zonal winds, the subtropical and polar-front jets and the Hadley, Ferrel and polar cells (heights exaggerated)

Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Earth and Environmental Sciences · Department of Climate and Ocean Sciences

Variability, extremes and the products that measure them

Zanista avhewayê, guherbarî û guhertin

Climate science covers the variability of precipitation, temperature and soil moisture over years and decades and the extremes at their edges.

01Çarçove

What the discipline covers

The subtopics its courses and laboratuwarên teach.

Kurs
Di amadekirinê de
Ast
L1 Introductory, L2 Intermediate
Labs
Map lab, Trigger lab, Geo quiz, GeoAI lab, Network lab, Exposure lab
  • Climate baselines and observations
  • Variability modes such as ENSO
  • Climate models and projections
  • Scenario families (SSPs and RCPs)
  • Downscaling and bias correction
  • Attribution of extreme events
  • Glaciers, permafrost and mountain hazards
  • Climate services
  • Physical climate risk for organisations

Courses in development extend the scope to further subjects: Working with climate projection data and downscaling; Extreme event attribution; Arctic risk.

02Nexşe

Build a twin of any place

Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow climate science, variability and change on the planet map, the globe and in 3D.

The Po at Casale Monferrato and the Vercelli rice plain: a flat plan of the faculty twin. Terrain 63 to 471 m; River 435 km; Canal 2,280 km; River discharge, GloFAS via Open-Meteo: read live when the 3D twin opens; Vegetation index, MODIS Terra NDVI 8-day: read live when the 3D twin opens; Soil moisture, SMAP L3 (daily): read live when the 3D twin opens; Precipitation rate, GPM IMERG (30 minutes): read live when the 3D twin opens; Surface water extent, OPERA DSWx (HLS): read live when the 3D twin opens; True colour at 30 m, HLS Sentinel-2 (daily granules): read live when the 3D twin opens. Contours every 50 metres from the elevation grid; rivers and named canals by class.
The Po at Casale Monferrato and the Vercelli rice plain, Italy. Flat plan of the same data: relief as contours from the inline grid, rivers and canals, and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices that can draw it, once its data and code have been checked.
  • Terrain 63 to 471 m
  • River 435 km
  • Canal 2,280 km
  • River discharge, GloFAS via Open-Meteo: read live when the 3D twin opens
  • Vegetation index, MODIS Terra NDVI 8-day: read live when the 3D twin opens
  • Soil moisture, SMAP L3 (daily): read live when the 3D twin opens
  • Precipitation rate, GPM IMERG (30 minutes): read live when the 3D twin opens
  • Surface water extent, OPERA DSWx (HLS): read live when the 3D twin opens
  • True colour at 30 m, HLS Sentinel-2 (daily granules): read live when the 3D twin opens
Credits and dates per layer are listed under the stage. Relief in the twin is exaggerated ×1.5 for legibility.

Drag to move, right drag or Shift with a drag to turn and tilt, Ctrl with the wheel to zoom. Keyboard: arrows move, Shift with arrows turn and tilt, + and – zoom, 0 resets, V steps through the views, Escape clears.

Flat plan of the same data: relief as contours from the inline grid, rivers and canals, and the numbers below. The 3D twin opens on devices that can draw it, once its data and code have been checked.

The boundaries, names and designations shown do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Countries: Natural Earth (public domain).

03Nexşeya zindî

Climate signals in the Mediterranean

Surface heat, rain, snow, sea ice, marine heat and water storage, each a dated satellite or model product, over the Mediterranean.

Nexşeya înteraktîf JavaScript hewce dike; lîsteya qatan û çavkanî li jêr in.

Qat 2

Climate signals

Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Çavdêrîkirî (ewrên mayinde hêj jî valahiyan dihêlin)
Çavkanî
VIIRS NOAA-20 Asta 3, 8-rojî (NASA LANCE)
Peydakar
NASA LANCE
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
8-rojî; Berhevoka peykî ya 8-rojî; ewrên mayinde hêj jî valahiyan dihêlin
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2026-09-14
Çareserî
torê nêzîkî 1 km
Nediyarî
Germahiya rûyê axê ya peykî di 8 rojên ku bi dîroka nîşandayî diqedin de, nîşanderek ji rûbirûbûna germê; ne germahiya hewayê, ne îndeksa germê û ne hişyariya germê ye.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin
Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Texmînkirî
Çavkanî
GPM IMERG (NASA GES DISC)
Peydakar
NASA GES DISC
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
rojane; Texmîna peykî, hema hema di dema rast de
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2026-10-12
Çareserî
torê nêzîkî 2 km
Nediyarî
Texmîna peykî, hema hema di dema rast de. Rasterê peykî an modelî wekî peydakar diweşîne. Ewr, valahiyên şeritê û çewtiya wergirtinê valahî û xîrecir dihêlin; nirx nîşander in, ne pîvanên li cihekî ne.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin
Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Observed (clouds and night leave gaps)
Çavkanî
VIIRS NOAA-20 NDSI (NASA LANCE)
Peydakar
NASA LANCE
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
daily; Satellite detection; clouds and night leave gaps
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2026-10-14
Çareserî
torê nêzîkî 500 m
Nediyarî
Satellite detection; clouds and night leave gaps. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin
Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Çavdêrîkirî
Çavkanî
GHRSST MUR (NASA JPL PO.DAAC)
Peydakar
NASA JPL PO.DAAC
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
daily; Satellite analysis
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2026-10-12
Çareserî
torê nêzîkî 1 km
Nediyarî
Satellite analysis. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin
Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Çavdêrîkirî
Çavkanî
GHRSST MUR25 (NASA JPL PO.DAAC)
Peydakar
NASA JPL PO.DAAC
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
daily; Satellite analysis
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2026-10-12
Çareserî
torê nêzîkî 2 km
Nediyarî
Satellite analysis of how far sea temperature departs from its usual value for the date shown; a marine heat indicator, not a spîbûna koralan alert.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin
Derbarê vê qatê
Delîl
Observed (latest month GIBS publishes)
Çavkanî
GRACE-FO JPL mascons (NASA JPL PO.DAAC)
Peydakar
NASA JPL PO.DAAC
Lîsans
Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
Berhema salê
monthly; Satellite gravimetry; latest month GIBS publishes
Nûtirîn di dema avakirinê de
2022-07-01
Çareserî
torê nêzîkî 2 km
Nediyarî
Satellite gravimetry; latest month GIBS publishes. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
Bi vê rêyê tê gihîştin
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, tenê piştî ku hûn nexşeya zindî destûr bidin

Ya herî dawî ya heyî

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Wêneyên herî nû yên NASA tê barkirin.

Bikişîne da ku bilivîne. Ctrl an ⌘ û zivirandin, pincandin an bişkojkan ji bo nêzîkkirinê; ji bo nirxên di bin nîşanderê de li ser bisekine; vegerandin vedigere herêmê.

Climate signals, framed on the Mediterranean.Berhemên peyk û modelê wekî NASA diweşîne, her yek bi dîroka xwe. Nîşander in, ne nirxandinên tu cihî ne.

Dane: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © beşdarên OpenStreetMap · Natural Earth · NASA EONETÇavkanî û lîsans

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • Berhemên VIIRS yên hema dema rast (lehî, germahiya rûyê erdê, berfa li erdê, refleksiya rastkirî), NASA LANCE; wêne bi NASA GIBS. Reng ji nexşeya rengan a weşandî ji nû ve hatine kişandin; nirx li şaneyên H3 yên ku têne nîşandan hatine navînkirin (hatiye guhertin). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • Barîna GPM IMERG, NASA Precipitation Processing System; ji aliyê NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) ve tê belavkirin; wêne bi rêya NASA GIBS. Reng ji nexşeya rengan a weşandî ji nû ve hatine xêzkirin; nirx li cihê nîşandanê di şaneyên H3 de navînî bûne (guhertî). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • GHRSST Level 4 MUR analyses, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; distributed by the NASA Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • GRACE and GRACE-FO JPL mascon solution, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; distributed by the NASA Physical Oceanography DAAC (PO.DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • ASTER GDEM berhemek METI û NASA ye (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); wêne bi riya NASA GIBS. Reng ji nexşeya rengan a weşandî ji nû ve hatine xêzkirin; nirx li cihên ku têne nîşandan di nav şaneyên H3 de hatine navînkirin (hatine guherandin). Wiha bide nîşan: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • Bi Natural Earth hatiye çêkirin. Daneyên nexşeyê yên vektor û raster ên belaş @ naturalearthdata.com. Giştî
  • © beşdarên OpenStreetMap (ODbL), bi NASA GIBS (xetên peravê, sînor, rê û navên cihan). Reng ji nexşeya rengan a weşandî ji nû ve hatine kişandin; nirx li şaneyên H3 yên ku têne nîşandan hatine navînkirin (hatiye guhertin). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; wêne bi riya NASA GIBS. Reng ji nexşeya rengan a weşandî ji nû ve hatine xêzkirin; nirx li cihên ku têne nîşandan di nav şaneyên H3 de hatine navînkirin (hatine guherandin). Daneyên vekirî yên NASA
  • Çarçove li ser globa û nexşeya daxistî: peravên, sînor, rê û navên cihan ji qatên referansê yên NASA GIBS (daneyên OpenStreetMap, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); wêneya Blue Marble wekî bingeha bijarte; erdnîgariya 3D û xwendina bilindahiyê ji nîşandera rengê bilindahiyê ya ASTER GDEM (çînên 5 m heta 200 m, ji bo xwendinê hatine mezinkirin). Sînor wekî hatine weşandin têne xêzkirin û li ser tu axê helwestekê nîşan nadin.
  • Gerdûn: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © beşdarên MapLibre.
  • Bûyerên zindî: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); bûyer nîşanî ne û girêdanên çavkaniya xwe ya orîjînal diparêzin.
  • Zindî: Bûyerên NASA EONET nîşander in, ne hişyariyên desthilatê ne.
  • NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • Pêşbîniya kalîteya hewayê, 5 roj, PM2.5 (CAMS bi riya Open-Meteo): Agahiyên Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service yên guhertî dihewîne 2026.
  • Salek borî, germahiya rojane (ERA5 bi riya Open-Meteo): Agahiyên Copernicus Climate Change Service yên guhertî dihewîne 2026.
  • Salek borî, germahî û tava rojane (NASA POWER): Ev dane ji NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project hatine wergirtin ku ji aliyê NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program ve tê fînansekirin..
  • Daneyên hewayê ji Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), bi lîsansa CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
  • Qatên bijarte (21 çavkanî di lîsteya qatan de: zindî, pêşbînî, çavdêrîkirî û çarçove) dema ku têne vekirin krediya pêşkêşkerê xwe li ser nexşeyê û li vir çap dikin; pêşbînî derketina modelê ne û nîşanderên derivekirî texmîn in.

Qat û dîrok

  • Germahiya rûyê erdê, roj, kompozîta 8 rojan: VIIRS NOAA-20 Level 3, 8 roj, NASA LANCE · 14 Îlon 2026
  • Rêjeya baranê, navgîna rojane: GPM IMERG, NASA GES DISC · 12 Cotmeh 2026
  • Vegirtina berfê: VIIRS NOAA-20 NDSI, NASA LANCE · 13 Cotmeh 2026
  • Qelebalixiya cemedê behrê: GHRSST MUR, NASA JPL PO.DAAC · 12 Cotmeh 2026
  • Anomaliya germahiya rûyê behrê: GHRSST MUR25, NASA JPL PO.DAAC · 12 Cotmeh 2026
  • Anomaliya hilanîna avê, mehane: GRACE-FO JPL mascons, NASA JPL PO.DAAC · Tîrmeh 2022

04The subject

The subject, methods and measures and debates and bodies

The field and its scope

For climate analysts, risk modellers, planners and advisers who need to read a projection, an attribution statement or a reanalysis field and know its scenario, its model spread and the confidence it carries.

05The method

From a degree of warming to a changed return period: how a shifted distribution turns a rare heat extreme into a common one

Global warming shifts the distribution of local annual maximum temperature by an amplified amount; the heat level that once returned every 100 years then returns far more often; the probability ratio between the two climates is what attribution reports, and the new return period is what an adaptation standard must use.

Sources: Philip et al., A protocol for probabilistic extreme event attribution analyses (2020); IPCC, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (2021); Shepherd, A common framework for approaches to extreme event attribution (2016); Morice et al., An updated assessment of near-surface temperature change from 1850: the HadCRUT5 data set (2021); Coles, An Introduction to Statistical Modeling of Extreme Values (2001).

06At a glance

At a glance, with 5 related topics

Climate science, variability and change at a glance

risksacademy.comearth-environmentdiscipline

Climate science, variability and change: 0 primary courses open, 4 in preparation and 5 also taught here, across 9 subtopics and 5 connected disciplines. Courses: RAF-110 L1 in preparation, RAN-336 L2 in preparation, RAN-363 L2 in preparation, RAT-234 L2 in preparation, RAN-329 L2 also taught here, RAN-330 L2 also taught here, RAN-335 L2 also taught here, RAS-410 L2 also taught here, RAT-227 L2 also taught here.
Climate science, variability and change at a glance
  • Open, 0
  • In preparation, 4
  • Also taught here, 5
  • Subtopics, 9
Drawn as a scenario fan: each course is a branch from today, in study-level order. The widening is the form of the figure; it forecasts nothing.Course codes from the curriculum; study levels L1 to L4.
Twin builderBuild a twin of any placeWorked example: the Po at Casale Monferrato and the Vercelli rice plain · 5 generators · 14 layers · 3 instruments
07Labs

How the subject is practised in labs

08Konsol

How Climate science, variability and change is taught, as a process you can run

Press Play to run this process from this page’s own data.

09Pratîk

Practice, learning and connections

How technology helps and what risk it brings

10Beşdar bibe

Take part in Earth and Environmental Sciences

Ji kî bûna xwe dest pê bike.

11References

Core references and where to begin

Start with IPCC, then Hawkins, then Hausfather.

12Pirs

Pirs, bersiv û têgehên sereke

Gelo xwendin li vir belaş e?
Erê. Her kurs û materyalê fêrbûnê yê Risk Academy, bi rêberiya Nexus Consortium, xwendina wê belaş e, bi leza xwe an bi komekê re. Beşdariya asayî tu xercê nîne; xebata bi pere, stajyerî û bûrs rêkeftinên cuda ne.
Temamkirina kursekê çi dide min?
Tomara temamkirinê: kurs, guhertoya wê, dîrok û tiştê ku hat nirxandin, bi awayê xwerû taybet e û tu parve dikî. Ew li ser hev kom dibe bo destkeftên dîsîplîn, beş û bernameyê. Tomarek diyar dike çi hat xwendin û nirxandin û jêhatîbûnê piştrast nake; ew ne lîsans, ne sernavê pîşeyî û ne rewşa kar e.
Dane û cih ji ku tên?
Her fakulte li ser cêwîyekî cihekî rastîn ê ji daneyên vekirî hatî avakirin ders dide; her qat peydaker, lîsans û dîroka xwe hildigire, û her encam li ser Academy çavkaniya xwe diyar dike. Nexşe û wêne ji bo fêrkirinê nîşander in, qet ne nirxandina cihekî ne.
How do I take part beyond the courses in climate science, variability and change?
Şaneyeke jêhatîbûnê ji sê heta heft kesan ava bike, rêyeke hevpar bixwîne, erkeke bi çavdêrî di National Working Groups de bigire, an komeke ji saziya xwe bîne. Ji bo rêxistinan.

Têgehên sereke

Têgeh

Climate variability

Variations in the climate around its mean state on timescales from months to decades, such as ENSO.

Têgeh

Shared Socioeconomic Pathways

Scenario narratives of future society used with emissions scenarios to drive climate projections.

Têgeh

Downscaling

Methods that derive local or regional climate information from coarse global model output.

Têgeh

Event attribution

The assessment of how climate change has altered the likelihood or intensity of a specific extreme event.

rêzeya Pergalên StratejîkBeşdar bibe

Ji vê rûpelê delîl bidin.

Reports is the Consortium’s quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

Risk Academy
Zanista avhewayê, guherbarî û guhertin

Prepare with a related course

Open courses in connected disciplines teach the methods this discipline will build on.