What is climate change?

Climate change is any long-term change in the statistics of weather over periods of time that
range from decades to millions of years. It can express itself as a change in the mean weather
conditions, the probability of extreme conditions, or in any other part of the statistical
distribution of weather. Climate change may occur in a specific region, or across the whole
Earth.
In recent usage, especially in the context of environmental policy, climate change usually refers
to changes in modern climate (see global warming). For information on temperature
measurements over various periods, and the data sources available, see temperature record. For
attribution of climate change over the past century, see attribution of recent climate change.

Earth’s atmosphere is made up of oxygen, a large amount of nitrogen, and a small percentage of
greenhouse gases.
Greenhouse gases act like the covering of a greenhouse - trapping warmth from the sun and
making life on Earth possible. Without them, too much heat would escape and the surface of the
planet would freeze. However, increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere causes Earth to heat more (ie. global warming) and the climate to change.
Our climate has undergone many changes over millions of years - from ice ages to tropical heat
and back again. Natural changes of the past 10,000 years have generally been gradual, allowing
people, plants and animals to adapt or migrate, although some prehistoric climate changes (eg.
the Ice Ages) may have been abrupt and are likely to have led to mass extinction of species.
However, over the past 50-100 years, increasing industrialisation and human activity (such as
industry, agriculture and transportation) have begun to affect the natural climate balance. These
activities are increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere and causing Earth not
only to heat up, but to heat up at an unprecedented rate. This process is often called ‘global
warming’ but it is better to think of it as ‘climate change’ because it is likely to bring about more
extreme events- floods, storms, cyclones, droughts and landslips- rather than an increase in
temperature alone.
The main greenhouse gases caused by human activity are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide
and some synthetic industrial gases. In New Zealand, approximately 49% of greenhouse gases
come from agriculture, 43% from energy, 6% from industrial processes and 2% from waste.
Climate change is already affecting our climate and is likely to impact on agriculture and our
other climate-sensitive industries, native ecosystems, infrastructure, health, biosecurity, society
and economy.
Climate change and global warming—what’s the difference?
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.

The meaning of 'climate change' is fairly straightforward—a clear, sustained change (over
several decades or longer) in the components of climate, such as temperature, precipitation,
atmospheric pressure, or winds. Such changes must constitute a clear trend, and be clearly
distinguished from the small random variation in these parameters that takes place all the time.
That is why climate change can only be determined after careful analysis of several decades of
observations. In this context, it is important to understand clearly the difference between climate
and weather. See Weather and climate—what’s the difference?
Climate may change in a single region or across the whole planet. Throughout earth's history,
climates have changed. The causes are various (see Why climates change). Change can be
brought about by a variety of factors. These include natural external factors, such as changes in
solar emission or slow changes in the earth's orbit; or natural internal processes of the climate or
earth system such as volcanic activity; or, as has occurred recently, human-induced
(anthropogenic) factors.
To help separate out the difference between human-induced and natural factors, the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) uses the term 'climate change' to
refer to changes that can be attributed to human activity that has changed the composition of the
atmosphere and, thereby, the functioning of the earth's climate system. The UNFCCC uses the
term 'climate variability' to refer to natural alterations in the earth's climate.
Global warming (which is not considered a technical term) refers to an increase in the average
temperature at the surface of the earth, or the lower part of the atmosphere. Most climatologists
consider that the global warming that we are now experiencing is mainly the result of human
actions changing the composition of the atmosphere. However, global warming and cooling have
occurred naturally throughout the history of the earth, as a result of natural climate variability.
Such changes in the past were usually much slower than the rate of warming that has occurred in
the last few decades.
The increase in global temperatures measured over recent decades, if it continues, has the
potential to seriously disrupt many of the environmental, economic and urban structures upon
which human society depends. Whilst it is possible that some of this warming may have a natural
cause, there is mounting evidence that human activity is responsible for most of the measured
warming. The principal contributor to the present phase of global warming is considered to be
the enhancement of the natural greenhouse effect.
Global surface warming is just one consequence of the changes to the climate being caused by
human activity. The various components of the climate and earth system are inextricably linked
through complex feedback mechanisms, and a change in one component such as temperature will
induce changes and adjustments in other components. Other changes that have either already
been observed or are projected to occur as a result of human activity include sea level rise;
changes in rainfall patterns; increases in extreme weather events; decreases in ice mass of
glaciers, ice sheets and sea ice; ocean warming and acidification; changes in ocean circulation;
and drying of the land.
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. Items 3-6 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.

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 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.
Many of the actions necessary to solve the global warming problem must be attacked at the
national and international levels.

Nirjhon
rnirjhon@gmail.com
+88 01716 651 652