AccuWeather.com

Explaining Global Warming through the use of Steroids in Baseball

Feb 13, 2012; 2:22 PM ET

Scientists at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado have come up with an interesting cartoon to explain global warming.

The cartoon, which is titled "Steroids, baseball and climate change" is part of an educational package called "Weather on Steroids," shows how steroids in baseball are in common with climate change.

You can watch the short two minute video right here. Courtesy of UCAR and YouTube.

Below is an excerpt from the Boulder Daily Camera article.

Jerry Meehl, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is managed by UCAR, narrated the video.

"I think there is a general confusion about weather versus climate and that weather is what you see out the window on any given hour and climate is the statistical collection or average of weather events," Meehl wrote in an e-mail. "It's that statistical aspect of climate that's sometimes hard to picture. That's why using steroids and baseball as an analogy seems to work for people."

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

blogs Home >

Comments

Comments left here should adhere to the AccuWeather.com Community Guidelines. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.

The Carbon Tax and China

May 25, 2012; 8:17 PM ET

A new report from M.I.T. states that a specific carbon tax and the participation of China in new international policy is needed to prevent catastrophic climate change.

Himalayas Experiencing Rapid Climate Change

May 18, 2012; 11:02 AM ET

Average annual mean temperatures in the Himalayas increased 1.5 Celsius or 0.06 Celsius per year between 1982 and 2006, which is three times greater than the average global increase for the same time period....

Using Statistical Analysis to Predict Future North American Warming

May 16, 2012; 3:24 PM ET

Researchers from the Ohio State University are using statistical analysis to tell us with how much certainty North America may warm later this century.

April 2012 Global Surface Temperatures

May 14, 2012; 2:53 PM ET

April 2012 was tied for 4th warmest on record globally, based on combined land and ocean surface temperature anomalies

Correction brings Temperature Trend Outlier back in Line

May 8, 2012; 3:01 PM ET

A scientific group from the University of Washington has identified a problem with one of the three satellite temperature records.

Global Satellite Temperature Results for April

May 4, 2012; 2:16 PM ET

La Nina is officially done and its global cooling influence also seems to be fading.........

Warming Experiments Greatly Underestimate how Plants respond to Climate Change

May 3, 2012; 12:56 PM ET

A group of researchers compared results from controlled environmental warming experiments on plants with a massive new archive of historical observations and found.....

Major Economic Contractions needed to Reduce CO2 Concentrations to Acceptable Levels

May 1, 2012; 1:39 PM ET

Major economic sacrifices may be needed to lower CO2 concentration to acceptable levels, according to one study......

Global Mean Sea Level

Apr 30, 2012; 2:05 PM ET

Satellite data since 1993 shows that that there is no doubt that the global mean sea level is steadily rising......

The Eastern U.S. "Warming Hole" of the Late 20th Century

Apr 27, 2012; 2:38 PM ET

Increased air pollution may have delayed global warming in the eastern U.S. back in the late 20th century.

Arctic Warming

Apr 25, 2012; 1:53 PM ET

Another indication of climate change is the warming of the Arctic....

Heat Content of the Upper Oceans is Rising

Apr 24, 2012; 3:37 PM ET

The increasing heat content of the world's oceans over the past few decades is another climate change indicator.

Glaciers Retreating, Sea Level Rising

Apr 23, 2012; 1:59 PM ET

As we continue our series on climate change indicators, we will focus on glacier melt and sea level rise today.

It's Not the Sun!

Apr 20, 2012; 11:04 AM ET

Over the next week or so I am going to focus on some of the basics of climate change and specifically on climate change indicators......

Update on Arctic Sea Ice Extent and Volume

Apr 18, 2012; 2:42 PM ET

Sea ice extent in the Arctic region continues to run close to the 1979-2000 year average at this time.