What is climate change?
Climate change refers to the temperature shifts and the change in the earth’s weather patterns that are believed to be caused by an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists report that the global temperature record shows an average warming of about 1°F over the past century. This warming has been recorded in both the northern and southern hemispheres, and over the oceans, with some areas much warmer and others actually cooler. The effects of climate change at its worst could mean that the polar ice caps would melt, continents not under water now could be flooded, or land that is now arable could become a vast desert. Carbon dioxide is one of the primary “greenhouse gasses”.The burning of fossil fuels is one of the major sources of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Climate change refers to altered long-term weather patterns. The most significant of these is global warming — the gradual warming of the earth caused by carbon dioxide and other gases collecting like a blanket in the atmosphere. Although temperatures around the globe fluctuate naturally, cooling and warming in different places at different times, the overall temperature of the earth has increased by more than half a degree Celsius since the beginning of the twentieth century. This rate of increase over the last hundred years has been the fastest and most dramatic in the history of the world.
Climate change refers to long-term changes in temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, and other elements of the earth’s climate system. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change as “any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.” An ever-increasing body of scientific research attributes these climatological changes to greenhouse gases (GHGs), particularly those generated from the human production and use of fossil fuels.
Any significant change in measures of climate (such as temperature, precipitation or wind) lasting for an extended period (decades or longer). Climate change may result from: natural factors, such as changes in the sun’s intensity or slow changes in the Earth’s orbit around the sun; natural processes within the climate system (e.g. changes in ocean circulation); human activities that change the atmosphere’s composition (e.g. through burning fossil fuels) and changes to the land surface (e.g. deforestation, reforestation, urbanization, desertification, etc.
Climate refers to the average weather experienced in a region over a long period, typically 30 years. This includes temperature, wind and rainfall patterns. The climate of the Earth is not static, and has changed many times in the past in response to a variety of natural causes. The term climate change usually refers to recent changes in climate that have been observed since the early 1900s. The earth is kept warm by the greenhouse effect. Certain gases in the atmosphere (so-called greenhouse gases) absorb energy that is radiated from the Earths surface, and so warm the atmosphere. The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon without which life on Earth as we know it would not be possible, as the Earth would be approximately 30C cooler. However, our modern lifestyles have resulted in us releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, enhancing the greenhouse effect and so pushing up temperatures globally. Back to TOP What’s the differen
