How does global warming and climate change differ from each other?

Question

and what can do to stop these?

Answer 1

Climate change is what you have when Global warming doesn't happen.  

What, you say?  It's cooler now and we were wrong?  Must be Climate Change!   Gotta have a back up plan my man.

You can't do a thing to stop them.  Maybe you should get a hobby and stop worrying about this.  Just a suggestion.

Answer 2

Many people in the media (and elsewhere) use the terms "climate change" and "global warming" interchangeably, as if they were the same thing. But there are differences between the meanings of the two terms. Getting a better handle on the definitions of and differences between "global warming" and "climate change" will help us understand why the threat caused by continued warming of the planet is so serious.

GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Global Warming — An overall warming of the planet, based on average temperature over the entire surface.

Climate Change — Changes in regional climate characteristics, including temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind, and severe weather events.

Let's explore the differences between these two concepts in more detail.

CLIMATE CHANGE VS. GLOBAL WARMING

Global Warming — The Heat  on Planet Earth's current warming trend is based largely on natural warming and cooling cycles that have been happening for eons; as well as human-caused additions to greenhouse gases, which are boosting the atmosphere's ability to trap heat in the biosphere. Minor factors like an overall increase in the sun's solar intensity play a smaller role.

While greenhouse gases are an essential component of a livable planet—they're what keep Earth from being a lifeless ball of ice—humans are causing greenhouse gas levels to increase so quickly that it's causing the average global temperature to rise much faster than it would naturally.

This warming is predicted to lead to a variety of negative effects, including:

Melting (and possible disappearance) of glaciers and mountain snow caps that feed the world's rivers and supply a large portion of the fresh water used for drinking and irrigation.

A rise in sea levels due to the melting of the land-based ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, with many islands and coastal areas ending up more exposed to storm damage or even underwater.



Increasingly costly "bad weather" events such as heat waves, droughts, floods, and severe storms.

Lowered agricultural productivity due to less favorable weather conditions, less available irrigation water, increased heat stress to plants, and an increase in pest activity due to warmer temperatures.

Increases in vector-borne infectious diseases like malaria and Lyme Disease.

Large numbers of extinctions of higher-level species due to their inability to adapt to rapidly changing climate and habitat conditions.

The first two of these effects are mostly related to increasing average temperatures. Other Items are related to heat too, but also playing a role are non-temperature factors—i.e. "climate-change factors."

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change—Beyond withering Weather Climate change is about much more than how warm or cool our temperatures are. Whereas "global warming" refers to increasing global temperatures, "climate change" refers to regional conditions. Climate is defined by a number of factors, including:

Average regional temperature as well as day/night temperature patterns and seasonal temperature patterns.

Humidity.

Precipitation (average amounts and seasonal patterns).

Average amount of sunshine and level of cloudiness.

Air pressure and winds.

Storm events (type, average number per year, and seasonal patterns).

To a great extent, this is what we think of as "weather." Indeed, weather patterns are predicted to change in response to global warming:

some areas will become drier, some will become wetter;

many areas will experience an increase in severe weather events like killer heat waves, hurricanes, flood-level rains, and hail storms.

It's tempting to think that all of these changes to the world's climate regions will average out over time and geography and things will be fine. In fact, colder climates like Canada may even see improved agricultural yields as their seasonal temperatures rise. But overall, humanity has made a huge investment in "things as they are now, where they are now." Gone are the days of millennia ago when an unfavorable change in climate might cause a village to pack up their relatively few belongings and move to a better area. We have massive societal and industrial infrastructure in place, and it cannot be easily moved. Climate-change effects will generally not be geographically escapable in the timeframe over which they happen, at least not for the majority of humans and species.

How Does Your Garden Grow ... In a Desert?Beyond mere "weather," we can also think of a region's climate as a place in which things live—a la, "a hospitable climate." Therein lies the real danger of global warming—climate change will affect the success or failure of how plants and animals live in a given geographic area, including food crops.

We think of the Central Valley of California as a lush, agriculturally productive landscape, but central California's climate is actually quite dry. Without intensive use of irrigation, the land would not produce the volume or variety of food it does now. So, what if increasing temperatures cause less snow pack to accumulate in the mountains each year, leading to lower river flows and less water available for irrigation in California's agricultural areas? What if changes in rainfall patterns make central California's climate even drier? How much would crop output fall?

This is just one example of how global warming could lead to a regional climate change that would cause a big difference in local economics and the national food supply

Climate Change – Currently Very Uncool even though the main threat right now is warming planetary temperatures, climate change can also mean global cooling. The last Ice Age was part of a globally cool period and it featured some rather severe "climate change" characteristics.

It's worth remembering that global warming is based on an increasing average global temperature. Some parts of the planet (such as the Arctic) are getting warmer much faster than other areas. It's even possible that some regions could actually experience regional cooling at the same time the planet as a whole is experiencing global warming. Here's how.

The "thermohaline circulation" in the world's oceans is part of the planet's temperature regulation system. It can warm or cool regional climates to make their average temperatures different that they would be normally based on their latitude.

The most notable example of this is how the Gulf Stream brings warm water up from the tropics to make Europe much warmer than it would be naturally. This part of the thermohaline circulation is dependent on regular additions of fresh water from melting Arctic ice (which is replaced every year through additional snowfall). If the flow of fresh Arctic water decreases enough, it could slow or even stop the thermohaline circulation, leading to cooler temperatures in Europe—even at the same time other areas are experiencing severe temperature increases.



Those who are skeptical about the threat posed by global warming often point to the fact that a few decades ago, some scientists were warning us that a new ice age could wipe us all out. After all, during the last Ice Age—which ended 10,000 years ago or so—much of North America was covered with an impenetrable sheet of ice. A repeat of that would indeed be big trouble.

Because of scientists' previous warnings that a new Ice Age might be in our future, global warming skeptics sometimes say that scientists can't make up their mind—first it's global cooling, then it's global warming. But let's remember three things:

(1) Back in the 1970s, at the same time a few scientists were warning of a possible new Ice Age, other scientists were already warning about the emerging evidence of global warming.

(2) The scientific community is now overwhelmingly in agreement that there is a threat from global warming and that there is no threat of another Ice Age, at least not in the timeframe that counts.

(3) The amount of temperature increase predicted from now to the end of the century is roughly the same as the temperature difference between now and the last Ice Age. (Yes, really!) It would be foolish to think that an equivalent but opposite move in temperature might be a good thing.



There are important differences between global warming and climate change, but the two are closely intertwined in determining the climate futures for the regions where we live. Predictions of regional impacts are beginning to emerge from climate models. There are regions that will get some benefits, but most of the predicted effects around the world are bad—bad enough that we need to quickly start fixing our greenhouse gas emissions.

There are solutions, but most leaders today are offering only low-impact solutions that will not truly solve the problem. We need to be talking about how to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-80% over the next few decades, not dithering over minimalist efforts like how to get back to 1990 levels by the year 2020.

Some leaders just offer excuses about why no action is possible, citing "the economy" as a reason to continue ignoring the problem. But a recent report from the British government about the economic damage that will be caused by inaction on climate change makes it clear that continued delay is unwise, even from an economic standpoint.

Answer 3

same difference

Answer 4

same thing different word

quite a sinister reason as to why the changed from GW to CC

global warming maent, obviously that any temp increase was caused by a factor (namely us humans)

climate change means that if it gets too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry or too normal, then we are all to blame.

worrying really....

Answer 5

There are a number of terms that are being used to describe very complex situations and, as they are short, handy labels, the terms themselves don't describe all the complexities. In fact, sometimes, they can be confusing! But, just like we understood what the "Cold War" was (neither cold nor a war), we have a general agreement on what these new terms mean.

"Global Warming" = the rapid change in the average temperature of the planet caused by human activity (especially from burning of fossil fuels).

"Climate Change" = the extreme, and rapid change in the planet's climate, environment, ecosystems and weather as a consequence of Global Warming.

Usually, the planet's climate is in equilibrium. This equilibrium slowly changes over time with plants and animals slowly adapting or evolving to the changes. Rapid heating of the planet, however, causes the equilibrium to be disturbed enough that chaotic conditions can become present for a short term as the planet struggles to reach a new equilibrium. In these conditions, life often doesn't have enough time to adapt or evolve so it dies out instead.

The difference is analogous to taking deep, calm breaths and panting uncontrollably or hyperventilating (leading to fainting!).

Warming (and cooling) of the globe is a natural phenomenon that happens in cycles and the climate naturally changes but these are long-term processes and should not be confused with the short-term, fast changes that we mean when we talk about Global Warming and Climate Change.

Jesse is, I'm sorry to have to say, is either very misinformed or deliberately trying to misinform...

She says "no studies done on this so called global warming have been conclusive to say it's humans that are damaging the earth causing climate change".

The IPCC report (hundreds of scientists wrote it, hundreds of governments have approved it, thousands of scientists peer-reviewed it) WAS conclusive:

Global warming is happening and is caused by humans.

http://www.ipcc.ch/)

Yes, "climate change COULD be due to natural aging of the earth" It COULD be due to aliens sneezing on us...

It IS due to human activity...

Answer 6

The basic of global warming is, it is due to the presence of excess greenhouse gases in our atmosphere such as CO2, CH4 etc. The heat transferred from the sun to the surface of earth during day time; do not get escaped during night time because of presence of excess greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. This results in heating up our atmosphere. Irrational industrialization, extensive deforestation, explosive population growth, emissions, excessive pollution due to burning of fossil fuels etc., are some of the reasons of putting excess greenhouse gases in our atmosphere – causing global warming.

Climate change is the erratic climatic condition worldwide because of the global warming. Because of the climate change excessive floods, excessive drought, typhoons etc. some the extremes of the climatic condition we are experiencing.

For further information on global warming, climate change and other environmental issues please refer my blog: http://www.environmentengineering.blogsp...

Answer 7

There is no real difference.  It's all part of the same ongoing process.

Answer 8

Climate Change is the transitional phrase used to coverup a failed climate prediction.  You can see the pattern by reading the titles in NASA GISS publications over the last few decades.

From an article published in 2001:

"The successive periods of global warming (1900–1940), cooling (1940–1965), and warming (1965–2000) in the 20th century show distinctive patterns of temperature change suggestive of roles for both climate forcings and dynamical variability."

Hansen, J.E., R. Ruedy, Mki. Sato, M. Imhoff, W. Lawrence, D. Easterling, T. Peterson, and T. Karl, 2001: A closer look at United States and global surface temperature change. J. Geophys. Res., 106, 23947-23963, doi:10.1029/2001JD000354.

Answer 9

They're basically two names used interchangeably (if not correctly) for the same thing.

"quite a sinister reason as to why they changed from GW to CC"

This is silly.  It's ALWAYS been "climate change" to scientists.  

The term "global warming" was invented by a REPORTER for a newspaper story, around 1980.  It caught on and some people starting using it to mean climate change.

To claim that there's anything "sinister" about people using the more correct term, instead of the one invented by a reporter, is utterly ridiculous.

Answer 10

1970's Global Cooling - too much air pollution blocking sunlight

1980's Climate Change - Global Cooling never happened

1990's Global Warming - too much sunlight heating the earth

---- (caused by cleaning up the air pollution?)

2000's Climate Change - Global Warming never happened.

2010's  ? Global Cooling again ?

Answer 11

I am afraid that you need to ignore messages that say that that global climate change, happening as a result of man, is not real. See the Union of Concerned Scientists for more information.

Global WARMING is only one aspect of global CLIMATE CHANGE. There is plenty of evidence that all of the most extremes of weather; wettest, warmest and driest but possibly not coldest, have occured in the last twenty years. Evidence is that Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have increased temperatures by at least 1.5C degrees. This has the side effect of creating more evapouration of water, hence more rain, and greater trubulence in the atmosphere, hence more cyclones/typhoons/tornados. All of these are happening, if the latest observations are to be believed.  

Warming and Climate change? Two sides of the same coin as far as I can see.

Answer 12

Climate change refers to the recent changes in the typical weather patterns of our planet. One of the signs of this 'climate change' is 'global warming'. There is a tendency of a gradual rise in earth's temperature. For example, most scietists say that there has already been a 1-2 degree rise in the past few years. If the current trends continue and the temperature rise goes unchecked to about 5-6 degrees, it could cause massive flooding by the melting of earth's  frozen water (the poles for example).

Some other effects of climate change is when you see that its snowing in Dubai which is a very dry and warm area (yes its true) and its getting warmer in London (usually wet and cold area). Another effect I notice is that the summers are getting hotter and the winters are getting colder. Global warming is also another charachteristic like these. People need to raise these questions see for themselves whats gonig on around them. So please ask more and see what others are donig to raise awareness. www.icechallenger.co.uk

Answer 13

global warming is nothing more than a hype word and used as a diversion to other major problems. no studies done on this so called global warming have been conclusive to say it's humans that are damaging the earth causing climate change. The climate change could be due to natural aging of the earth. you can tell your local government to stop allowing corporations/people/media to spread this propaganda of global warming till a conclusive study is done