shorten this into 26 words
What is Climate Change? difference between climate and weather weather – daily conditions like high temperature, low temperature, wind, and precipitation climate – long-term weather patterns for a region, like average temperatures and average precipitation for a whole year, a whole decade, or even a whole century What is the difference between climate change and global warming? climate change – changes in long-term weather patterns over long periods of time (over a period of years, usually at least several decades) Climate change can happen due to natural causes or due to human causes. Climate change includes global warming. global warming – increase in Earth’s average temperature due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels What is the greenhouse effect? Gases (like water vapor and carbon dioxide) naturally occur in our atmosphere. These gases allow our atmosphere to act like a greenhouse, trapping some of the energy from the Sun and helping it keep our planet warm. That’s why they are called greenhouse gases. However, when the concentration of these greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide and methane) gets too high, then the Earth holds on to too much of the thermal energy. Some of the energy that should be allowed to escape into space can’t escape. This causes global warming, which is an increase in global temperature caused by human activities that make the Earth keep too much thermal energy. clarifications on definitions climate change – long-term changes in patterns of temperature, precipitation, storms, and other weather patterns global warming – the human-caused increase in global temperatures; global warming is likely the biggest contributor to climate change but is not the only cause greenhouse effect – the trapping of thermal energy (what we often call heat) by gases in the atmosphere; the greenhouse effect gets too large and contributes to global warming when the gas levels in the atmosphere get too high How do human activities affect climate? Worldwide, average temperatures (land temperatures and ocean temperatures) have been increasing naturally since the last ice age (several thousand years). Before the Industrial Revolution, average temperatures were increasing slowly and in a way that still allowed natural processes in the ecosystem to function as expected. Since the Industrial Revolution (and especially since around 1840), global warming caused by human activities (mainly burning fossil fuels) has caused climate change to happen much faster. During the Industrial Revolution, large factories began to operate. Many of them used fossil fuels as energy sources. When fossil fuels are burned, compounds (like carbon dioxide) are released into the atmosphere. These compounds trap thermal energy in our atmosphere that otherwise would have been able to be released into space. That extra thermal energy is making Earth’s temperature increase too fast. The vast majority of scientists and the vast majority of data agree that the burning of fossil fuels has contributed significantly to excess increases in global temperatures. While burning fossil fuels is the main way in which human activities cause global warming, other activities like cutting down forests and damaging oceans also contribute to global warming. Plants, including tiny ocean plants, grasses, and trees, pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use those atoms in the photosynthetic process that forms sugars. Why does global warming matter? Global warming contributes to extreme weather, which can cause deaths and millions of dollars of property damage. Global warming can cause population changes for various species of plants and animals. Some populations may go down. For example, global warming is believed to be responsible for the loss of millions of coral polyps. In some cases, organisms that require lower temperatures may go extinct. Some populations may go up. For example, insect populations may increase in areas that were previously too cold for those species. This can result in the spread of insect-borne illnesses into new areas. Interpreting Graphs