Global warming and climate change have become popular words, that even a lower basic child must have heard them a lot of times, either from a science textbook or cartoons.
Despite the phrases being used often, most people make use of these words interchangeably without knowing a difference exists between them.
Global warming is just an aspect of climate change that refers to the long-term warming of the planet while climate change is a broad aspect that encompasses global warming. Climate change refers to all the changes that happen in our planets such as an increase in sea level, decrease in plant blooming all as a result of human actions like the burning of fuel
Global warming
The term global warming was coined about two decades ago but became a frequently used term in the media in the 1980s due to the effect of pollutants like chlorofluorocarbons on the Earth’s ozone layer. The continuous increase of these greenhouse gases has led to the formation of a gaseous shield around the earth. This shield prevents the sun’s heat from being able to escape.
This effect has contributed enormously to heat retention on the surface of the planet leading to an increase in temperature. Although the rise may be considered minute, it has had a drastic effect on the planet’s climate.
Climate change
Due to the effect of global warming on the climate, people often misunderstood both words. Climate could be described as the condition in the atmosphere for a long time. Hence climate change could be said to be a slow deviation from the normal atmospheric condition after some time.
For climate change to be established, at least one of the weather conditions must have a sustained fluctuation in the weather pattern in the same place for a long time
For instance, a prolonged increase in rainfall in a previously dry region like Sahara would be classified as climate change, even if the climate in other parts of the world remained stable
The occurrence of climate change could be accounted for so many reasons, some of which are natural and unpredictable as seen in cases of volcanic eruptions. While most climatic changes could be attributed to natural causes studies carried out recently shows that human activity is 90% responsible for global warming in the past years.
In summary, the difference between climate change and global warming is that global warming is the known cause of climate change. Hence the subject, global warming should not be taken for granted as it is putting the long-term existence of man and his environment ln jeopardy. All hands should be on deck to help save our planet from this impending doom.
