Global climate change
Climate versus weather
Average weather conditions over longer periods and over large areas. is different from The day-to-day condition of the atmosphere. because climate refers to the average temperature and cycles of weather over long periods of time - decades at least. You might talk about the weather being windy last week, or hotter last year than the year before. But unless you compare data for many years you cannot make a judgment about whether the climate is changing.
Climate change
The Earth鈥檚 climate has been constantly changing since the Earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago. This includes several A time when parts of the Earth's surface were covered with large ice sheets. and periods of much warmer global temperatures. Until 200 years ago, these changes were all caused by natural changes such as When a mountain with a hole in the top expels lava, ash, gas and other materials. and changes in the energy that reaches the Earth from the Sun.
Global warming
The rise in the average temperature of the Earth's surface. is not the same as The long-term alteration of weather patterns.. Global warming is usually used to describe the warming of the climate in the past 200 years, which the vast majority of scientists are almost certain has been caused by human activities.
The correlation between carbon dioxide and global warming
One of the commonly used pieces of evidence that humans are causing global warming is that there is a strong A relationship between two sets of data, such that when one set changes you would expect the other set to change as well. between the increase in global carbon dioxide levels caused by human activities and the increase in global temperatures over the same timescale. Compare the following graph to the one above.
The effects of global warming
The effects of global warming include:
- A slow-moving ice mass, formed over a long period from compacted snow. and polar ice melting
- A measure of the average height of the sea's surface. rising
- patterns of rainfall changing, producing An excess of water that does major damage to a region. or A long period of low rainfall that creates a major shortage of water.
- A place where plants, animals and microorganisms live. changing
We are already experiencing some of these effects. The consequences of global warming will affect billions of people, all around the world.
Question
Suggest two reasons why climate change leads to rising sea levels.
Water from melting glaciers and polar ice enters the oceans. As the Earth鈥檚 temperature increases, seawater warms up and expands.