Climate - Broad general education (Early to fourth level)

Over the last century, Scotland’s climate has become warmer, while changes in rainfall patterns have led to drier summers and wetter winters.

Data

Scotland’s climate trends

What is the average temperature, rainfall or sunshine in my part of Scotland? The climate trends application below allows you to change the range of years and region. You can also use it to find out how Scotland’s growing season has changed over the years.

Climate Trends application

Atmospheric concentrations of important greenhouse gases

How have greenhouse gases changed over history? This graph shows an increase since 1750 when industrial activities began.

How has Scotland’s average surface temperature differed from the 1960-1990 average over the past hundred years?

Maps

View the Met Office climate station map - The climate station map shows around 300 stations across the UK for which 1981-2010 averages are available.

Apps

The UK Met Office Weather Observation Website (WOW) Find out about weather and submit your own data. Can you identify the clouds you see? Can you record the wind speed using the WOW app?

NASA Images of change gallery NASA's Images of Change galleryNASA's Images of Change gallery features images of different locations on planet Earth, showing change over time periods ranging from centuries to days.

NASA Climate kids   NASA's Climate kids educational game.Educational game from NASA - the goal is to slow the pace of global warming.

Resources

What is the greenhouse effect?

Find out more about the greenhouse effect from this State of the UK climate diagram

Where do the greenhouse gases come from?

 This table gives more information about which industries are producing greenhouse gases.

Table of greenhouse gases and industries (PDF)

Consider the impact on species across Scotland

How has Scotland’s average surface temperature differed from the 1960-1990 average over the past hundred years?