Climate change

What is climate change?

According to the NASA website, the difference between weather and climate is a measure of time. Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere "behaves" over relatively long periods of time. So weather changes all the time and climate usually stays pretty much the same for centuries if it is left to itself. However, people are taking actions that can change the earth and its climate in significant ways.

Energy from the sun warms the earth's surface and, as the temperature increases, heat is radiated back into the atmosphere as infra-red energy. Some of the energy is absorbed within the atmosphere by 'greenhouse gases'.However, human activities are adding greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, to the atmosphere, which are enhancing the natural greenhouse effect and making the world warmer.  

This man-made extra warming is called the "enhanced" greenhouse effect.