Global Warming and Climate Change

Though the terms global warming and climate change are often used interchangeably, they have different meanings. Climate change describes long-term shifts in the Earth's weather patterns, which affect such factors as temperature, humidity, wind, cloud cover, and precipitation levels. Global warming specifically refers to an increase in the Earth's average surface temperatures caused by human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels.

Overwhelming scientific evidence supports the reality of both global warming and climate change. In 2021 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) revealing how human activity has induced rapid climate change. AR6 covers how specific regions experienced the effects of climate change, projecting how these changes will likely play out in the...