Terminology: global warming vs climate change

Summary

“Global warming” and “climate change” are related but not identical terms. Scientifically, global warming refers specifically to the ongoing increase in global average surface temperature. Climate change is broader: it includes global warming and the wider effects that warming produces across Earth’s climate system, such as changes in precipitation patterns. Historically, the terms were not always used consistently. Before the 1980s, scientists often used other phrasing (e.g., “inadvertent climate modification”) while the balance between greenhouse-gas warming and cooling from air pollution particulates was still being clarified. In the 1980s, “global warming” and “climate change” became more common and were sometimes used interchangeably in public discussion. In addition, “climate change” can be used more broadly to include long-term climate shifts caused by natural processes, while “anthropogenic climate change” is used when the cause is human activity.

Key Points

• 1

  Global warming = the rise in global average surface temperature.

• 2

  Climate change = global warming plus broader impacts on Earth’s climate system (e.g., precipitation changes).

• 3

  In public usage, the terms have often been used interchangeably, but they have distinct scientific meanings.

• 4

  “Climate change” can also refer to historical changes from natural processes; “anthropogenic climate change” specifies human causes.