What’s the difference between climate change and global warming?
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA Scientific Visualization Studio/NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
The terms “global warming” and “climate change” are sometimes used interchangeably, but "global warming" is only one aspect of climate change.
“Global warming” refers to 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. Worldwide since 1880, the average surface temperature has risen about 1°C (about 2°F), relative to the mid-20th century baseline (of 1951-1980). This is on top of about an additional 0.15°C of warming from between 1750 and 1880.
“Climate change” encompasses global warming, but refers to the broader range of changes that are happening to our planet. These include rising sea levels; shrinking mountain glaciers; accelerating ice melt in Greenland, Antarctica and the Arctic; and shifts in flower/plant blooming times. These are all consequences of warming, which is caused mainly by people burning fossil fuels and putting out heat-trapping gases into the air.
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