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Climate Change

Climate Change might involve a change in seasons, an increase in the average temperature, or an increase in precipitation each year. Climate must not be confused with weather, which is a short term phenomenon.

Global warming results from an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere causing the surface of the Earth to become warmer by trapping heat reflected off the Earth. Climate change is an effect of global warming.

The instance of a few cool or rainy days does not mean that global warming is not occuring. Climate change is exactly that, a change in climate. Climate is the weather patterns in a specific area, over a specific time period.

An increase in the temperature of the Earth can change climate and weather patterns. There are many scientific predictions about the results and extent of climate change. Climate change might involve a change in seasons, a change in rainfall patterns, a change in temperature around the world, and more extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and storms. A change in climate will affect people, plant and animal species, agriculture, industry and culture.

Sea Level Rise

The effects of global warming are evident. Global warming may cause regional rain patterns to change, while melting glaciers and the thermal expansions of seawater may raise global sea levels by between 15 and 95 cm by the year 2100.

Global warming can cause sea levels to rise in two ways: an increase in average global temperature causes melting of the polar ice caps resulting in a rise in sea level, and by expansion of the oceans as they heat.

Recent Sea Level Rise ¹

This image shows the instrumental record of global average temperatures as compiled by the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia and the Hadley Centre of the UK Meteorological Office⁴.

This figure were prepared from publicly available data by Robert A. Rohde and are incorporated into the Global Warming Art project.

Polar ice cap melting

2007 Arctic Sea Ice ²

This animation shows the Arctic sea ices from January 1, 2007 through September 14th, 2007 at a rate of six frames per day. ²

An increase in the surface temperature of the Earth causes the polar ice to melt. There have been increase rates of ice loss since the 1980s.³

Polar ice melting contributes to sea level rise, but also has other effects including habitat loss for local species.