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Climatology, the science of climate and its relation to plant and animal life, is important in many fields, including agriculture, aviation, medicine, botany, zoology, geology, and geography. Changes in climate affect, for example, the plant and animal life of a given area. The presence of coal beds in North America and Europe along with evidence of glaciation in these same areas indicates that they must have experienced alternately warmer and colder climates than they now possess.
Despite yearly fluctuations of climatic elements, there has been, apparently, little overall change during the period of recorded history. Numerous climatic cycles (variations in weather elements that recur with considerable regularity) have been claimed to exist, including an 11-year cycle related to sunspot activity. There is currently much concern that human activities are changing the earth's climate in harmful ways. Computer models of climate changes have been developed in recent years; some examine potential parameters that effect global warming or cooling.
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