Comments

  • Photo: Laura

    Laura commented on :

    They’re closely related – because the world is getting hotter (global warming) our climate is changing, resulting in more extreme weather. I prefer the term “climate crisis” to climate change, because I think it better reflects the fact that the climate is changing for the worse.

  • Photo: Alexander

    Alexander commented on :

    global warming is what we used to call climate change. The term was replaced to reflect the fact that we see more extremes of both ends of the temperature scale due to the impact we as a species have had on the atmosphere and the planet as a whole.

  • Photo: John

    John commented on :

    “Global warming” is the long-term warming of the planet. Global temperature shows a well-documented rise since the early 20th century and most notably since the late 1970s.

    “Climate change” encompasses global warming, but also includes other changes that are happening to our planet. These include rising sea levels; shrinking mountain glaciers; accelerating ice melting; and shifts in the seasons, affecting plants and flowers.

  • Photo: Luke

    Luke commented on :

    “Climate change” is an umbrella term for various ways in which the climate of the planet is changing, this generally refers to the climate responding to human activity (mainly carbon emissions). “Global warming” is one of many aspects of “climate change”.

    “Global warming” describes a specific ongoing process in which the average global temperature is increasing over time. i.e. the average temperature everywhere on the planet on a given year tends to be higher than previous years. Locally, some places are getting colder, and in general we’re seeing more extremes (colder winters and hotter summers) but the global average is a good measure of the overall progress of climate change.

    As John pointed out, global warming is an older term as it’s been well researched and documented for many decades. For this reason, you often see “global warming” and “climate change” used to mean the same thing, especially in older media. However, nowadays I would recommend using “climate change” unless you’re talking specifically about global warming.

    If you’re talking in terms of the need for human action (e.g. talking to the government about climate policy), then “climate crisis” is probably even better since it has the correct sense of urgency.