Facts about climate change
FACTS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
1. What is climate change?
Climate change is a long-term shift in the climate of a s pecific location, region or planet.
The shift is measured by changes in features associated with average weather, such as temperature, wind patterns and pr ecipitation. What most peo ple don’t know is that a change in the variability of climate is also considered climate change, even if average weather conditions remain the same.
Climate change occurs when the climate of a s pecific area or planet is altered between two different periods of time. This usually occurs when something changes the total amount of the sun's energy absorbed by the earth's atmosphere and surface. It also happens when something changes the amount of heat energy from the earth's surface and atmosphere that escapes to space over an extended period of time.
Such changes can involve both changes in average weather conditions and changes in how much the weather varies around these averages. T he changes can be caused by natural processes like volcanic eruptions, variati ons in the sun's intensity, or very slow changes in ocean circulation or land surfaces which occur on time scales of decades, centuries or longer.
But... humans also cause climates to change by releasing greenhouse gases and aerosols into the atmosphere, by changi ng land surfaces, and by depleting the stratospheric ozone layer. Both natural and human factors that can cause climate change are called ‘climate forcings', since they push, or ‘force' the climate to shift to new values. 2. Why “global warmi ng” is the wrong term
Climate change refers to general shifts in clim ate, including temperat ure, precipitation, winds, and other factors. Global wa rming (as well as global cooli ng) refers specifically to any change in the global average surface temperature. Global warming is often misunderstood to imply that the world will warm
1. What is climate change?
Climate change is a long-term shift in the climate of a s pecific location, region or planet.
The shift is measured by changes in features associated with average weather, such as temperature, wind patterns and pr ecipitation. What most peo ple don’t know is that a change in the variability of climate is also considered climate change, even if average weather conditions remain the same.
Climate change occurs when the climate of a s pecific area or planet is altered between two different periods of time. This usually occurs when something changes the total amount of the sun's energy absorbed by the earth's atmosphere and surface. It also happens when something changes the amount of heat energy from the earth's surface and atmosphere that escapes to space over an extended period of time.
Such changes can involve both changes in average weather conditions and changes in how much the weather varies around these averages. T he changes can be caused by natural processes like volcanic eruptions, variati ons in the sun's intensity, or very slow changes in ocean circulation or land surfaces which occur on time scales of decades, centuries or longer.
But... humans also cause climates to change by releasing greenhouse gases and aerosols into the atmosphere, by changi ng land surfaces, and by depleting the stratospheric ozone layer. Both natural and human factors that can cause climate change are called ‘climate forcings', since they push, or ‘force' the climate to shift to new values. 2. Why “global warmi ng” is the wrong term
Climate change refers to general shifts in clim ate, including temperat ure, precipitation, winds, and other factors. Global wa rming (as well as global cooli ng) refers specifically to any change in the global average surface temperature. Global warming is often misunderstood to imply that the world will warm