Global Warming vs Climate Change

The Important Differences Between "Climate Change" and "Global Warming"

Global Warming — The Heat is On

Many people in the media (and elsewhere) use the terms "climate change" and "global warming" interchangeably, as if they were the same thing. But there are differences between the meanings of the two terms. Getting a better handle on the definitions of and differences between "global warming" and "climate change" will help us understand why the threat caused by continued warming of the planet is so serious.

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.
* picture of hurricane 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.

Definition

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.

How Does Your Garden Grow ... In a Desert?

Beyond mere "weather," we can also think of a region's climate as a place in which things live—a la, "a hospitable climate." Therein lies the real danger of global warming—climate change will affect the success or failure of how plants and animals live in a given geographic area, including food crops.

We think of the Central Valley of California as a lush, agriculturally productive landscape, but central California's climate is actually quite dry. Without intensive use of irrigation, the land would not produce the volume or variety of food it does now. So, what if increasing temperatures cause less snow pack to accumulate in the mountains each year, leading to lower river flows and less water available for irrigation in California's agricultural areas? What if changes in rainfall patterns make central California's climate even drier? How much would crop output fall?

This is just one example of how global warming could lead to a regional climate change that would cause a big difference in local economics and the national food supply.

Wrap-Up

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 recent 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. But in the US, states and cities are thus far in the lead on implementing solutions. In the end, total success will have to be built on our actions as individuals (regardless of country), from energy conservation to vehicle choices to what we demand of our leaders.
You too can be part of these global warming solutions!

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