What is climate change?
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Climate change is a large-scale, long-term shift in the planet’s weather patterns or average temperatures. Earth has had tropical climates and ice ages many times in its 4.5 billion years. So what’s happening now?
Since the last ice age, which ended about 11,000 years ago, Earth’s climate has been relatively stable at about 14°C. However, in recent years, the average temperature has been increasing.
The information below details the seven main sources of evidence for climate change.
Higher temperatures
Scientific research shows that the climate – that is, the average temperature of the planet’s surface – has risen by 0.89°C from 1901 to 2012. Compared with climate change patterns throughout Earth’s history, the rate of temperature rise since the Industrial Revolution is extremely high.
Changing rainfall
There have been observed changes in precipitation, but not all areas have data over long periods. Rainfall has increased in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere since t...
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