Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. In common usage, climate change describes global warming-the ongoing increase in global average temperature-and its effects on Earth's climate system. Human activity has caused increased temperatures, with natural forces adding some variability.
For historical climate trends, see Climate variability and change.Īverage surface air temperatures 2011–21 compared to 1956–76 Change in average surface air temperature since the Industrial Revolution, plus drivers for that change. This article is about contemporary climate change. For other uses, see Climate change (disambiguation) and Global warming (disambiguation).
