Is climate change the same as global warming?

Question

Could the terms climate change and global warming be used interchangeably?

Answer 1

The term "global warming" was originally used to describe the current global increase in temperature largely due to the addition of fossil fuels to our atmosphere. Scientists decided that this term was misleading for the general public and started using "climate change" to describe the warming of our planet and the subsequent effect on long term weather, or climate. To understand this topic, you'll need to understand the greenhouse effect and how the addition of greenhouse gasses increases Earth's temperature. Further, an important principle in all earth science topics is that each part of the system is interconnected. Therefore, changing one part effects all of the others. For example, if glaciers on land melt (part of the cryosphere), the ocean's (part of the hydrosphere) level will not only rise, but the salinity of the water will lower because glaciers are freshwater. The lowering of the salinity will of course affect the living things in the ocean (part of the biosphere). This scenario can (and does) get more complicated but this should at least give you an example of the impact that climate change can have.

Answer 2

By and large, the average warming is most pronounced around the geographical polar regions, and almost negligible at the equator.

However (a big however!), the size of the average temperature changes doesn't tell you directly everything; a 0.1^oC increase at the equator will put far more water vapor in the air (one of the big drivers of weather) than will a 1^oC increase at the poles. However the 1^oC increase at the poles, will have a greater affect at intensifying weather extremes in the temperate zones, as the jet stream wave pattern rotates more slowly around the poles.

Hope this helps you.

Two important things to remember about climate change: use your sunscreen (you don't want to fry), and don't buy beachfront property (you don't want to drown)!

Answer 3

Yes, Aimee, they are one and the same, but "climate change" is the more accurate term.

 

The confusion comes from the fact that overall in the last several decades, the earth and its atmosphere have been on a warming trend, so we named the phenomenon "warming." 

 

Our planet goes through cycles naturally, sometimes getting warmer, sometimes colder, sometimes wetter, sometimes drier, etc. The phenomenon was initially called "warming" because right now, average global temperatures have been rising, which leads to melting polar ice, higher sea levels, and related changes in coastlines and other environmental factors. So even when we say, "wow, it's been a cold winter," in the big picture the earth overall is getting warmer right now. The cycles can last for decades or even hundreds of years and are more accurately named "climate change."

 

The debate about climate change centers around how much effect human habits (waste, pollution, use of fossil fuels, etc.) have on the natural cycles. Most scientists these days agree that the man-made effect is pretty substantial--that our influence makes the cycles run faster and to greater extremes, partially accounting for hotter hots, colder colds, more severe storms, droughts, etc. -- and that we need to change our habits (and get big companies to change as well) to help slow down these effects.

 

Anyway, over time people have realized that "global warming" is too specific a term, when really there are all sorts of natural trends that are being exacerbated, at least to some degree, by human factors.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Matt in New York

Answer 4

Aimee,

 

Climate change is a general term stating that the overall climate is different now then previously.  In theory, this term could also be used in the context of the climate change during the beginning of the last ice age.  Global warming is a type of climate change.  So, technically, they are not synonymous, but can be interchangeable, depending on the context.  For example, to say current climate change is due, in part, to the increased level of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere would imply climate change is global warming.

 

I hope this helps.