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57-562: Through 2006, the tournament was normally scheduled to end on the first Sunday of May of each year, or a few days close to that day. In 2007, the tournament schedule was moved roughly two weeks later, to May 17–20. The first two tournaments were held in August — frequently a time of hot, humid climate in Alabama . The dates were moved to June for three more years, then finally to the early May/late April period. In 2010, organizers announced that

114-570: A biome classification, as climate is a major influence on life in a region. One of the most used is the Köppen climate classification scheme first developed in 1899. There are several ways to classify climates into similar regimes. Originally, climes were defined in Ancient Greece to describe the weather depending upon a location's latitude. Modern climate classification methods can be broadly divided into genetic methods, which focus on

171-526: A 30-year period. A 30-year period is used as it is long enough to filter out any interannual variation or anomalies such as El Niño–Southern Oscillation , but also short enough to be able to show longer climatic trends." The WMO originated from the International Meteorological Organization which set up a technical commission for climatology in 1929. At its 1934 Wiesbaden meeting, the technical commission designated

228-681: A depth of 10,000 m (33,000 ft; 6.2 mi) in the Mariana Trench , the deepest spot in the Earth's oceans. In fact, single-celled life forms have been found in the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, by the Challenger Deep , at depths of 11,034 m (36,201 ft; 6.856 mi). Other researchers reported related studies that microorganisms thrive inside rocks up to 580 m (1,900 ft; 0.36 mi) below

285-419: A few global datasets exist. Global climate models can be dynamically or statistically downscaled to regional climate models to analyze impacts of climate change on a local scale. Examples are ICON or mechanistically downscaled data such as CHELSA (Climatologies at high resolution for the earth's land surface areas). The most talked-about applications of these models in recent years have been their use to infer

342-450: A process of biopoiesis (life created naturally from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds) or biogenesis (life created from living matter), at least some 3.5 billion years ago. In a general sense, biospheres are any closed, self-regulating systems containing ecosystems. This includes artificial biospheres such as Biosphere 2 and BIOS-3 , and potentially ones on other planets or moons . The term "biosphere"

399-403: A wider sense is the state, including a statistical description, of the climate system." The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) describes " climate normals " as "reference points used by climatologists to compare current climatological trends to that of the past or what is considered typical. A climate normal is defined as the arithmetic average of a climate element (e.g. temperature) over

456-436: Is an open system, with photosynthesis capturing solar energy at a rate of around 100 terawatts . By the most general biophysiological definition, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere , cryosphere , hydrosphere , and atmosphere . The biosphere is postulated to have evolved , beginning with

513-562: Is as follows: "Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the "average weather", or more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period ranging from months to thousands or millions of years. The classical period is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). These quantities are most often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation, and wind. Climate in

570-462: Is discussed in terms of global warming , which results in redistributions of biota . For example, as climate scientist Lesley Ann Hughes has written: "a 3 °C [5 °F] change in mean annual temperature corresponds to a shift in isotherms of approximately 300–400 km [190–250 mi] in latitude (in the temperate zone) or 500 m [1,600 ft] in elevation. Therefore, species are expected to move upwards in elevation or towards

627-569: Is the Köppen climate classification . The Thornthwaite system , in use since 1948, incorporates evapotranspiration along with temperature and precipitation information and is used in studying biological diversity and how climate change affects it. The major classifications in Thornthwaite's climate classification are microthermal, mesothermal, and megathermal. Finally, the Bergeron and Spatial Synoptic Classification systems focus on

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684-399: Is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorological variables that are commonly measured are temperature , humidity , atmospheric pressure , wind , and precipitation . In a broader sense, climate is

741-406: Is what you expect, weather is what you get." Over historical time spans, there are a number of nearly constant variables that determine climate, including latitude , altitude, proportion of land to water, and proximity to oceans and mountains. All of these variables change only over periods of millions of years due to processes such as plate tectonics . Other climate determinants are more dynamic:

798-493: The Nuvvuagittuq Belt of Quebec, Canada that were as old as 4.28 billion years, the oldest record of life on earth, suggesting "an almost instantaneous emergence of life" after ocean formation 4.4 billion years ago , and not long after the formation of the Earth 4.54 billion years ago. According to biologist Stephen Blair Hedges , "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth ... then it could be common in

855-418: The ecosphere (from Ancient Greek οἶκος ( oîkos )  'settlement, house' and σφαῖρα ( sphaîra )  'sphere'), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems . It can also be termed the zone of life on Earth . The biosphere (which is technically a spherical shell ) is virtually a closed system with regard to matter , with minimal inputs and outputs. Regarding energy , it

912-484: The thermohaline circulation of the ocean leads to a 5 °C (9 °F) warming of the northern Atlantic Ocean compared to other ocean basins. Other ocean currents redistribute heat between land and water on a more regional scale. The density and type of vegetation coverage affects solar heat absorption, water retention, and rainfall on a regional level. Alterations in the quantity of atmospheric greenhouse gases (particularly carbon dioxide and methane ) determines

969-404: The universe ." Every part of the planet, from the polar ice caps to the equator , features life of some kind. Recent advances in microbiology have demonstrated that microbes live deep beneath the Earth's terrestrial surface and that the total mass of microbial life in so-called "uninhabitable zones" may, in biomass , exceed all animal and plant life on the surface. The actual thickness of

1026-495: The Arctic region and oceans. Climate variability is the term to describe variations in the mean state and other characteristics of climate (such as chances or possibility of extreme weather , etc.) "on all spatial and temporal scales beyond that of individual weather events." Some of the variability does not appear to be caused systematically and occurs at random times. Such variability is called random variability or noise . On

1083-819: The December 1991 press conference announcing the tournament's inception as the Bruno's Classic . From its beginning, the tournament was staged at the Greystone Golf & Country Club , in the Inverness section of the Birmingham suburb of Hoover. Since its inception, the Bruno's Memorial Classic has been one of the most popular stops on the Champions Tour, usually attracting all of the top money winners. With

1140-459: The EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, average global air temperature has passed 1.5C of warming the period from February 2023 to January 2024. Climate models use quantitative methods to simulate the interactions and transfer of radiative energy between the atmosphere , oceans , land surface and ice through a series of physics equations. They are used for a variety of purposes, from the study of

1197-495: The Earth as a single point and average outgoing energy. This can be expanded vertically (as in radiative-convective models), or horizontally. Finally, more complex (coupled) atmosphere–ocean– sea ice global climate models discretise and solve the full equations for mass and energy transfer and radiant exchange. Biosphere The biosphere (from Ancient Greek βίος ( bíos )  'life' and σφαῖρα ( sphaîra )  'sphere'), also called

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1254-406: The Earth's biosphere, including soil , hot springs , inside rocks at least 19 km (12 mi) deep underground, and at least 64 km (40 mi) high in the atmosphere. Marine life under many forms has been found in the deepest reaches of the world ocean while much of the deep sea remains to be explored. Under certain test conditions, microorganisms have been observed to survive

1311-470: The Earth's crust. The rate at which the temperature increases depends on many factors, including the type of crust (continental vs. oceanic), rock type, geographic location, etc. The greatest known temperature at which microbial life can exist is 122 °C (252 °F) ( Methanopyrus kandleri Strain 116). It is likely that the limit of life in the " deep biosphere " is defined by temperature rather than absolute depth. On 20 August 2014, scientists confirmed

1368-462: The amount of solar energy retained by the planet, leading to global warming or global cooling . The variables which determine climate are numerous and the interactions complex, but there is general agreement that the broad outlines are understood, at least insofar as the determinants of historical climate change are concerned. Climate classifications are systems that categorize the world's climates. A climate classification may correlate closely with

1425-444: The biosphere is but one of four separate components of the geochemical model, the other three being geosphere , hydrosphere , and atmosphere . When these four component spheres are combined into one system, it is known as the ecosphere . This term was coined during the 1960s and encompasses both biological and physical components of the planet. The Second International Conference on Closed Life Systems defined biospherics as

1482-843: The biosphere on Earth is difficult to measure. Birds typically fly at altitudes as high as 1,800 m (5,900 ft; 1.1 mi) and fish live as much as 8,372 m (27,467 ft; 5.202 mi) underwater in the Puerto Rico Trench . There are more extreme examples for life on the planet: Rüppell's vulture has been found at altitudes of 11,300 metres (37,100 feet; 7.0 miles); bar-headed geese migrate at altitudes of at least 8,300 m (27,200 ft; 5.2 mi); yaks live at elevations as high as 5,400 m (17,700 ft; 3.4 mi) above sea level; mountain goats live up to 3,050 m (10,010 ft; 1.90 mi). Herbivorous animals at these elevations depend on lichens, grasses, and herbs. Life forms live in every part of

1539-426: The causes of climate, and empiric methods, which focus on the effects of climate. Examples of genetic classification include methods based on the relative frequency of different air mass types or locations within synoptic weather disturbances. Examples of empiric classifications include climate zones defined by plant hardiness , evapotranspiration, or more generally the Köppen climate classification which

1596-482: The consequences of increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide (see greenhouse gas ). These models predict an upward trend in the global mean surface temperature , with the most rapid increase in temperature being projected for the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Models can range from relatively simple to quite complex. Simple radiant heat transfer models treat

1653-557: The context of environmental policy , the term "climate change" often refers only to changes in modern climate, including the rise in average surface temperature known as global warming . In some cases, the term is also used with a presumption of human causation, as in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The UNFCCC uses "climate variability" for non-human caused variations. Earth has undergone periodic climate shifts in

1710-583: The dynamics of the weather and climate system to projections of future climate. All climate models balance, or very nearly balance, incoming energy as short wave (including visible) electromagnetic radiation to the Earth with outgoing energy as long wave (infrared) electromagnetic radiation from the Earth. Any imbalance results in a change in the average temperature of the Earth. Climate models are available on different resolutions ranging from >100 km to 1 km. High resolutions in global climate models require significant computational resources, and so only

1767-464: The existence of microorganisms living 800 m (2,600 ft; 0.50 mi) below the ice of Antarctica . Earth's biosphere is divided into several biomes , inhabited by fairly similar flora and fauna . On land, biomes are separated primarily by latitude . Terrestrial biomes lying within the Arctic and Antarctic Circles are relatively barren of plant and animal life. In contrast, most of

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1824-421: The global temperature and produce an interglacial period. Suggested causes of ice age periods include the positions of the continents , variations in the Earth's orbit, changes in the solar output, and volcanism. However, these naturally caused changes in climate occur on a much slower time scale than the present rate of change which is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases by human activities. According to

1881-420: The golf tournament thus ending its 17-year association with the event. (The company soon after declared bankruptcy, with the assets eventually becoming part of Belle Foods , which also subsequently went bankrupt.) Regions Charity Classic Regions Charity Classic presented by Bruno's Supermarkets Bruno's Memorial Classic Source: Climate This is an accepted version of this page Climate

1938-434: The loss of the annual Iron Bowl college football game between Alabama and Auburn , which was formerly played at Birmingham's Legion Field , the golf tournament has become Metro Birmingham's largest sporting event. In 2006, Bruno's Supermarkets—which had undergone a series of financial struggles, various ownerships, and the loss involvement by Bruno family members—announced it would reduce its sponsorship commitment to

1995-456: The modern time scale, their observation frequency, their known error, their immediate environment, and their exposure have changed over the years, which must be considered when studying the climate of centuries past. Long-term modern climate records skew towards population centres and affluent countries. Since the 1960s, the launch of satellites allow records to be gathered on a global scale, including areas with little to no human presence, such as

2052-524: The more populous biomes lie near the equator . Experimental biospheres, also called closed ecological systems , have been created to study ecosystems and the potential for supporting life outside the Earth. These include spacecraft and the following terrestrial laboratories: No biospheres have been detected beyond the Earth; therefore, the existence of extraterrestrial biospheres remains hypothetical. The rare Earth hypothesis suggests they should be very rare, save ones composed of microbial life only. On

2109-404: The most common atmospheric variables (air temperature, pressure, precipitation and wind), other variables such as humidity, visibility, cloud amount, solar radiation, soil temperature, pan evaporation rate, days with thunder and days with hail are also collected to measure change in climate conditions. The difference between climate and weather is usefully summarized by the popular phrase "Climate

2166-745: The origin of air masses that define the climate of a region. Paleoclimatology is the study of ancient climates. Paleoclimatologists seek to explain climate variations for all parts of the Earth during any given geologic period, beginning with the time of the Earth's formation. Since very few direct observations of climate were available before the 19th century, paleoclimates are inferred from proxy variables . They include non-biotic evidence—such as sediments found in lake beds and ice cores —and biotic evidence—such as tree rings and coral. Climate models are mathematical models of past, present, and future climates. Climate change may occur over long and short timescales due to various factors. Recent warming

2223-577: The other hand, Earth analogs may be quite numerous, at least in the Milky Way galaxy , given the large number of planets. Three of the planets discovered orbiting TRAPPIST-1 could possibly contain biospheres. Given limited understanding of abiogenesis , it is currently unknown what percentage of these planets actually develop biospheres. Based on observations by the Kepler Space Telescope team, it has been calculated that provided

2280-705: The other hand, periodic variability occurs relatively regularly and in distinct modes of variability or climate patterns. There are close correlations between Earth's climate oscillations and astronomical factors ( barycenter changes, solar variation , cosmic ray flux, cloud albedo feedback , Milankovic cycles ), and modes of heat distribution between the ocean-atmosphere climate system. In some cases, current, historical and paleoclimatological natural oscillations may be masked by significant volcanic eruptions , impact events , irregularities in climate proxy data, positive feedback processes or anthropogenic emissions of substances such as greenhouse gases . Over

2337-402: The past state of the climate. It demonstrates periods of stability and periods of change and can indicate whether changes follow patterns such as regular cycles. Details of the modern climate record are known through the taking of measurements from such weather instruments as thermometers , barometers , and anemometers during the past few centuries. The instruments used to study weather over

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2394-465: The past, including four major ice ages . These consist of glacial periods where conditions are colder than normal, separated by interglacial periods. The accumulation of snow and ice during a glacial period increases the surface albedo , reflecting more of the Sun's energy into space and maintaining a lower atmospheric temperature. Increases in greenhouse gases , such as by volcanic activity , can increase

2451-508: The poles in latitude in response to shifting climate zones." Climate (from Ancient Greek κλίμα  'inclination') is commonly defined as the weather averaged over a long period. The standard averaging period is 30 years, but other periods may be used depending on the purpose. Climate also includes statistics other than the average, such as the magnitudes of day-to-day or year-to-year variations. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2001 glossary definition

2508-433: The science and technology of analogs and models of Earth's biosphere; i.e., artificial Earth-like biospheres. Others may include the creation of artificial non-Earth biospheres—for example, human-centered biospheres or a native Martian biosphere—as part of the topic of biospherics. Currently, the total number of living cells on the Earth is estimated to be 10 ; the total number since the beginning of Earth, as 10 , and

2565-415: The science of the biosphere. It is an interdisciplinary concept for integrating astronomy , geophysics , meteorology , biogeography , evolution , geology , geochemistry , hydrology and, generally speaking, all life and Earth sciences. Geochemists define the biosphere as being the total sum of living organisms (the " biomass " or " biota " as referred to by biologists and ecologists). In this sense,

2622-578: The sea floor under 2,590 m (8,500 ft; 1.61 mi) of ocean off the coast of the northwestern United States , as well as 2,400 m (7,900 ft; 1.5 mi) beneath the seabed off Japan. Culturable thermophilic microbes have been extracted from cores drilled more than 5,000 m (16,000 ft; 3.1 mi) into the Earth's crust in Sweden , from rocks between 65–75 °C (149–167 °F). Temperature increases with increasing depth into

2679-497: The state of the components of the climate system , including the atmosphere , hydrosphere , cryosphere , lithosphere and biosphere and the interactions between them. The climate of a location is affected by its latitude , longitude , terrain , altitude , land use and nearby water bodies and their currents. Climates can be classified according to the average and typical variables, most commonly temperature and precipitation . The most widely used classification scheme

2736-489: The thirty-year period from 1901 to 1930 as the reference time frame for climatological standard normals. In 1982, the WMO agreed to update climate normals, and these were subsequently completed on the basis of climate data from 1 January 1961 to 31 December 1990. The 1961–1990 climate normals serve as the baseline reference period. The next set of climate normals to be published by WMO is from 1991 to 2010. Aside from collecting from

2793-1066: The total number for the entire time of a habitable planet Earth as 10 . This is much larger than the total number of estimated stars (and Earth-like planets) in the observable universe as 10 , a number which is more than all the grains of beach sand on planet Earth; but less than the total number of atoms estimated in the observable universe as 10 ; and the estimated total number of stars in an inflationary universe (observed and unobserved), as 10 . The earliest evidence for life on Earth includes biogenic graphite found in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks from Western Greenland and microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone from Western Australia . More recently, in 2015, "remains of biotic life " were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. In 2017, putative fossilized microorganisms (or microfossils ) were announced to have been discovered in hydrothermal vent precipitates in

2850-527: The tournament would be superseded by the move of The Tradition , a Champions Tour major tournament, which is played at nearby Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club . Regions took on sponsorship of this event, which is now called "The Regions Tradition." The tournament was first held in 1992 as the Bruno's Memorial Classic, with Bruno's Supermarkets as the title sponsor. The name stems from the founders, Angelo and Lee Bruno (brothers of Bruno's founder Joseph Bruno), who were killed in an airplane crash shortly after

2907-466: The tournament. Regions Financial Corporation , a banking and financial services company based in Birmingham, stepped in as the title sponsor, with Bruno's remaining as a presenting sponsor. At the same time, tournament organizers announced that the site would move to the new Ross Bridge course, approximately 15 miles (25 km) west of Greystone at the other end of the city of Hoover. Ronnie Bruno , son of Angelo Bruno, continues to serve as chairman of

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2964-563: The tournament. Additionally, the group that managed the tournament, run by Ronnie Bruno and Gene Hallman , later became a full-time event-management company known as the Bruno Event Team. The team runs a wide variety of events, mostly sports-related, including many championships for the Southeastern Conference . On January 30, 2009, Bruno's Supermarkets confirmed that it would no longer be a presenting sponsor of

3021-449: The vacuum of outer space . The total amount of soil and subsurface bacterial carbon is estimated as 5 × 10  g. The mass of prokaryote microorganisms—which includes bacteria and archaea, but not the nucleated eukaryote microorganisms —may be as much as 0.8 trillion tons of carbon (of the total biosphere mass , estimated at between 1 and 4 trillion tons). Barophilic marine microbes have been found at more than

3078-428: The variability or average state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by processes internal to the Earth , external forces (e.g. variations in sunlight intensity) or human activities, as found recently. Scientists have identified Earth's Energy Imbalance (EEI) to be a fundamental metric of the status of global change. In recent usage, especially in

3135-448: The years, the definitions of climate variability and the related term climate change have shifted. While the term climate change now implies change that is both long-term and of human causation, in the 1960s the word climate change was used for what we now describe as climate variability, that is, climatic inconsistencies and anomalies. Climate change is the variation in global or regional climates over time. It reflects changes in

3192-497: Was coined in 1875 by geologist Eduard Suess , who defined it as the place on Earth's surface where life dwells. While the concept has a geological origin, it is an indication of the effect of both Charles Darwin and Matthew F. Maury on the Earth sciences . The biosphere's ecological context comes from the 1920s (see Vladimir I. Vernadsky ), preceding the 1935 introduction of the term " ecosystem " by Sir Arthur Tansley (see ecology history ). Vernadsky defined ecology as

3249-533: Was originally designed to identify the climates associated with certain biomes . A common shortcoming of these classification schemes is that they produce distinct boundaries between the zones they define, rather than the gradual transition of climate properties more common in nature. Paleoclimatology is the study of past climate over a great period of the Earth 's history. It uses evidence with different time scales (from decades to millennia) from ice sheets, tree rings, sediments, pollen, coral, and rocks to determine

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