What is Climate Change?
Climate change, as defined by the United Nations as “long term shifts in temperature and weather patterns” (United Nations). Of course, this is not a surprise, but climate change has long been used in contexts beyond this basic description, and means much more than two words can ever fully define. Climate change is a story, spanning multiple centuries, full of real people, real places, and real tragedy. While no collection can ever fully contain what climate change means to each person, place, and thing on this planet, I hope that the following readings allow you to gain a larger understanding on this global issue. I hope that these readings allow you an insight into your world, and our impact on it and in it.
If you’ve been around long enough, you might also think of the term “global warming” when discussing climate change. While global warming is not a term typically used in academia recently, it might be helpful to think of global warming as just a part of climate change (NASA). Whereas global warming describes the basic facts – an increase in emissions is increasing global temperatures, the term climate change expands this understanding to include changes to weather patterns, precipitation, and the planet that come about as a result of many of the same causes.
This first chapter focuses on the core foundation of climate change, before we move further into discussions on causes, impacts, progress, and solutions. I ask that you take these readings not only with your own background in mind, but with the diverse backgrounds and biases that we all approach an issue such as this. Think critically, think creatively, and ask yourself, “what is my role?”. Together, issues such as this become not only possible to solve, but it becomes inevitable that we will overcome these issues and create a brighter future.
Select a section below to go to that page, Or hit “Next Page” to go through the chapter from the beginning.
Section 1: Weather versus Climate
Section 2: Physics of Climate Change
Section 3: History of Climate Change
Section 4: Visible Trends in Climate
Section 5: Climate Projections