Satellite Observations of North American Climate Change

For the distant past, our observational record of climate change in North America is based on paleoclimatic proxy data, as discussed in Chap. 1. For the last 150 years or so, systematic, continuous instrumental measurements at weather stations have been the primary source of the climate record, as reviewed in Chap. 2. For the last four decades, observations of the Earth from space have provided a new source of information. This chapter focuses on the results of satellite measurements of the atmosphere and surface of North America.