What is the difference between climate change and global warming?
The term climate change is often used interchangeably with the term global warming, but according to the National Academy of Sciences, “the phrase ‘climate change’ is growing in preferred use to ‘global warming’ because it helps convey that there are other changes in addition to rising temperatures.” Climate change refers to any significant change in measures of climate (such as temperature, precipitation, or wind) lasting for an extended period. Global warming is an average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the Earth’s surface and in the troposphere, which can contribute to changes in global climate patterns.
Climate change and global warming both spend a lot of time in the news, and it is important to distinguish between these two related concepts. Put simply, “climate change” refers to long term shifts in the Earth’s climate in which the climate differs radically from the expected norm. “Global warming” is a type of climate change, and the term is usually used specifically to refer to the climate change which began to occur in the 20th century. Both climate change and global warming are topics of interest to scientists, paleontologists, and ecologists. A number of factors can influence the Earth’s climate, causing climate change and global warming, ranging from volcanic eruptions to pollution created by humans. Using archaeological and paleontological evidence, scientists have documented numerous instances of climate change in the Earth’s past, and they have examined how, why, and when these changes occurred, using a number of indicators to track these events. Glaciation is a major indica
Climate change involves increasing or decreasing temperatures or precipitation, or other changing weather patterns. It could be localized or widespread. Global warming, as its name implies, means only increasing temperatures over the entire earth. Climate change is a fact that can be documented from past measurements. Global warming is a theory that attempts to predict a future occurrence. Climate change is accepted as a natural phenomenon. Global warming is blamed entirely on mankind’s action.
” The answer is quite simple – global warming is occurring and the average temperature of the earth is rising and is expected to continue to rise for many decades. The key word in the previous sentence is “average”. Although the average global temperature will rise, the effect will be different for some areas of the world. The United Kingdom is one of the places where average temperature could fall. Thus, in the United Kingdom, the term “climate change” is more usually used in preference to “global warming”. Currently, there are two views on the effect of climate change on the UK. The UK could follow most parts of the world and get warmer, or else it could get cooler. For more details of these contradictory predictions, see our Climate Change and the United Kingdom (UK) page.
