What is the difference between Global Warming and Climate Change?

The Earth is experiencing its hottest summer ever. The temperature is smashing records all across the planet. As of right now, July 4th is the planet's hottest day in more than 125,000 years, with an average worldwide temperature of 17.17°C, or 62.92°F. This unprecedented rise in temperatures can have devastating effects on the ecosystem and human life and could severely impact our survival on the planet. Many parts of the world are experiencing devastating floods, taking hundreds of lives. Some areas are facing frequent earthquakes, like in Turkey and Syria, where thousands of people lost their lives. The ice caps in the Arctic are melting rapidly, causing sea levels to rise, and more natural calamities are waiting to happen, all due to climate change.

There are many people in the world who often get confused between climate change and global warming, the latter being a direct consequence of the former. Let’s understand the difference between climate change and global warming and clear up any doubts that you might have. 

Difference between Climate Change and Global Warming

Let’s first define the two terms. 

• Global Warming: Global warming refers to the long-term increase in Earth's average temperature. It happens when the planet's atmosphere traps more heat, like a blanket, leading to a rise in temperatures over time. This is primarily caused by human activities, such as burning fossil fuels (like coal, oil, and gas) for energy and deforestation. These activities release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which contribute to the greenhouse effect, trapping heat and warming the planet.
• Climate Change: Climate change is an umbrella term that encompasses all the changes in Earth's climate patterns, which includes global warming as well. It involves alterations in temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, and other elements that affect the climate over a long period. Climate change can occur naturally due to factors like volcanic eruptions and changes in the sun's energy, but human activities have been the main drivers of recent changes.

Global warming is a significant factor contributing to climate change. The increased heat caused by global warming affects various aspects of the climate, leading to shifts in weather patterns, melting ice caps, rising sea levels, more frequent extreme weather events (like hurricanes and heatwaves), and disruptions to ecosystems and wildlife.

But humans are primarily responsible for altering the overall natural balance of the planet. The burning of fossil fuels for energy releases large amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. Previously, the Carbon Dioxide released in the atmosphere was used by trees and some algae to produce Oxygen (O2). However, because of deforestation, the amount of trees and algae capable of absorbing carbon dioxide has significantly decreased. This imbalance in the carbon cycle has led to an increase in atmospheric CO2 levels, contributing to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Additionally, human activities such as industrialization and agriculture have also released other greenhouse gases like methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), further exacerbating the problem. These gases trap heat, causing global warming and contributing to climate change. 

The Bottom Line

The difference between global warming and climate change is that global warming is the specific phenomenon of the Earth's rising average temperature due to human activities emitting greenhouse gases, whereas, climate change encompasses a broader range of alterations in climate patterns of the planet. Global Warming is a result of climate change.