Scientists use observations from the ground, air and space, along with theoretical models, to monitor and study past, present and future climate change. Natural processes can also contribute to climate change, including internal variability (e.g., cyclical ocean patterns like El Niño, La Niña and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and external forcings (e.g., volcanic activity, changes in the Sun’s energy output, variations in Earth’s orbit). These human-produced temperature increases are commonly referred to as global warming.

These changes have a broad range of observed effects that are synonymous with the term.Ĭhanges observed in Earth’s climate since the early 20th century are primarily driven by human activities, particularly fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere, raising Earth’s average surface temperature. What is Climate Change?Ĭlimate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates. It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land. Since the pre-industrial period, human activities are estimated to have increased Earth’s global average temperature by about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit), a number that is currently increasing by 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade. It is most commonly measured as the average increase in Earth’s global surface temperature.

The term is frequently used interchangeably with the term climate change, though the latter refers to both human- and naturally produced warming and the effects it has on our planet. Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s climate system observed since the pre-industrial period (between 18) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere. Learn more about global surface temperature here. This graph illustrates the change in global surface temperature relative to 1951-1980 average temperatures, with the year 2020 tying with 2016 for warmest on record (Source: NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies).

Jan level we rise remix