What Is Climate Change?
Climate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have
come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates. These changes have a broad
range of observed effects that are synonymous with the term.
Changes observed in Earth’s climate since the mid-20th century are driven by
human activities, particularly fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping
greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere, raising Earth’s average surface
temperature. Natural processes, which have been overwhelmed by human activities,
can also contribute to climate change, including internal variability (e.g., cyclical ocean
patterns like El Niño, La Niña and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and external forcings
(e.g., volcanic activity, changes in the Sun’s energy output, variations in Earth’s orbit).
Scientists use observations from the ground, air, and space, along with computer
models, to monitor and study past, present, and future climate change. Climate data
records provide evidence of climate change key indicators, such as global land and
ocean temperature increases; rising sea levels; ice loss at Earth’s poles and in
mountain glaciers; frequency and severity changes in extreme weather such as
hurricanes, heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, floods, and precipitation; and cloud and
vegetation cover changes.
“Climate change” and “global warming” are often used interchangeably but have
distinct meanings. Similarly, the terms "weather" and "climate" are sometimes confused,
though they refer to events with broadly different spatial- and timescales.
What Is Global Warming?
global_warming_2022
This graph illustrates the change in global surface temperature relative to 1951-
1980 average temperatures, with the year 2020 statistically tying with 2016 for hottest
on record (Source: NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies). Learn more about
global surface temperature here.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s surface observed since the
pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil
fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s
atmosphere. This term is not interchangeable with the term "climate change."
Since the pre-industrial period, human activities are estimated to have increased
Earth’s global average temperature by about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees
Fahrenheit), a number that is currently increasing by more than 0.2 degrees Celsius
(0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade. The current warming trend is unequivocally the
result of human activity since the 1950s and is proceeding at an unprecedented rate
over millennia.
Weather vs. Climate
“If you don’t like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes.”
- Mark Twain
Weather refers to atmospheric conditions that occur locally over short periods of
time—from minutes to hours or days. Familiar examples include rain, snow, clouds,
winds, floods, or thunderstorms.
Climate, on the other hand, refers to the long-term (usually at least 30 years)
regional or even global average of temperature, humidity, and rainfall patterns over
seasons, years, or decades.
Find Out More: A Guide to NASA’s Global Climate Change Website
This website provides a high-level overview of some of the known causes, effects
and indications of global climate change:
Evidence. Brief descriptions of some of the key scientific observations that our
planet is undergoing abrupt climate change.
Causes. A concise discussion of the primary climate change causes on our
planet.
Effects. A look at some of the likely future effects of climate change, including
U.S. regional effects.
Vital Signs. Graphs and animated time series showing real-time climate change
data, including atmospheric carbon dioxide, global temperature, sea ice extent, and ice
sheet volume.
Earth Minute. This fun video series explains various Earth science topics,
including some climate change topics.
Other NASA Resources
Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio. An extensive collection of animated climate
change and Earth science visualizations.
Sea Level Change Portal. NASA's portal for an in-depth look at the science behind sea
level change.
NASA’s Earth Observatory. Satellite imagery, feature articles and scientific information
about our home planet, with a focus on Earth’s climate and environmental change.
Header image is of Apusiaajik Glacier, and was taken near Kulusuk, Greenland, on
Aug. 26, 2018, during NASA's Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) field operations. Learn
more here. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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