Which term is more apt Global Warming or Climate Change?

Question

I have some very specific questions about Climate change. Basically I have read lots and lots around this subject and found a number of very opposing views on certain topics.

1. The oceans are warming, but the oceans are massive bodies of water. Surely to heat these would take many many years, also would increases in geological activity not have an impact on this.
2. Solar activity is increasing, would this not have more of an impact on climate than CO2 or Water Vapour.
3. CO2 emitted by humans is much less than that released by Oceans, Volcanoes, Fires, Animals, Vegetation
4. Extreme Weather, given that air currents are a source of weather phenomena and air movements are caused by temperature variations. Then surely by global temperatures becoming more similar these would decrease.
5. The percieved sides in the climate debate are worth billions. Surely this has a part to play in the arguements.
What are we all to think about this.
References will earn votes, not unsupported opinions

Answer 1

Climate Change - because global warming will eventually result in more than just warming, but also an eventual cooling period (and possibly an ice age, hooray, won't that be fun?)

In answer to your specific points:
1. Yes, that's true, it does take lots of energy to heat the oceans. If they are heating, think about how much energy we've already poured into the global environment. Also, only a few degrees temperature change can make a HUGE difference. The oceans in the arctic are maybe three degrees warmer than they were this point last century, but the arctic ice cap is melting in ways never seen before. For example, there never used to be open water in the canadian archipelego, even in the summer - now, there are miles and miles of open sea.
On the canadian archipelago: http://newark.cms.udel.edu/~cats/healy_2005/science/index.html
On sea ice generally:
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1603667.ece
2. yes, solar activity is increasing, but most scientists believe that the effect on the earth's climate has been negligible
From a NASA press release: "...the solar increases do not have the ability to cause large global temperature increases...greenhouse gases are indeed playing the dominant role..."
Source: http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/19990408/
3. Vegetation doesn't release CO2 - it traps it. Same with oceans - they are filled with algae and plankton, both of which USE CO2 and reduce it. As for volcanoes, fires, and animals - those have always been there. They should not have any net effect on the planet's climate.
4. If global temperatures increase, then the temperature difference between temperature zones will remain the same.
5. Both sides have something to gain and something to lose. However, the anti-global warming side has much to gain by continuing to fight change - they have a direct expense that they can expect by having to change the way they do things. Those who are trying to change the world have no direct benefit that they will gain - most do not own, say, environmental cleanup businesses. Their benefit is based entirely off of a belief in doing the right thing.

Answer 2

Good question. Global warming is actually more accurate in my opinion. There are many many climates around the globe and not all of these climates are being affected. However, there is ample evidence of global warming, although once again this affect is not observed everywhere. The observational evidence includes but is not limited to melting of ice caps and glaciers and the northward progression of certain flora and fauna. The precise cause of this warming is not known. My personal opinion for what it is worth is that this warming may be due to variances in solar radiation which reaches the earth. I believe a paper given by Tim Patterson, a Quaternary geologist and paleoclimatologist, on 7 Oct 2004 before a conference in Toronto, ON does an excellent job of describing this solar effect. The paper was entitled "The Geologic Record and Climate Change". I do believe we should try and curb our use of fossil fuels which add to the growing CO2 burden in the atmosphere.

Answer 3

Consider these facts by The National Weather Service:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

Also, the Cooler Heads Coalition has some interesting information on the impact of Global Warming Policies:
http://globalwarming.org/article.php?uid=89
I just found their site recently and it appears to be a good resource.

I also just found this video on the Global Warming swindle:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4340135300469846467

I believe the debate is still ongoing. We should all be responsible with how we treat the environment: Buy a hybrid (or walk or ride a bike), reduce your trash/recycle, don't waste electricity, and live in an area with responsible urban growth/renewal. However, don't give into the hype and popular beliefs of politicians and celebrities.

Answer 4

Climate change - Just in case Global Warming does not last forever.

Climate change will.

Here's a place that could use a little global warming - Canada!

http://www.stuffintheair.com/Canadas-climate.html

Ha Ha

Answer 5

term apt global warming climate change

Answer 6

Global Warming is the cause and Climate Change is the effect. The context would determine which was the most apt one to use.

As the world warms up there are many changes within the climate - some places become hotter, some become colder, some become wetter, some become drier etc.

1) The oceans are indeed warming, not by much but warming all the same. Global warming leads to long terms rises in average ocean temperatures but there are seasonal variations as well - seas and oceans are warmer in summer and colder in winter. The average rises have been occurring over a couple of hundred years.

Geological activity wouldn't have much effect on ocean temperatures as it doesn't release much heat. There are underwater vents which release superheated gas, water and other material but the warming effect they have is very minimal.

2) Solar activity increases and decreases in regular cycles. The most obvious being sunspot activity which has an 11 year cycle. Global warming has been occurring for 200 or so years during which time there have been numerous full cycles. The amount of heat from the sun is termed Solar Irradiance and is measured in W/m²/yr (Watts per square metre per year). The difference between maximum and minimum is just 1.3 W/m²/yr , an amount so small that until the advent of satellite technology it was immeasurable. There's more about solar activity on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_variation

3) Oceans form part of the carbon cycle - the absorb carbon dioxide and also release it. Each year they absorb about 2 billion tons more than they release, they're what's termed a 'carbon sink'. Unlike humans, oceans don't actually create carbon dioxide. More info about carbon cycles from NASA - http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/CarbonCycle/carbon_cycle4.html

Volcanic emissions are very small in comparison to human emissions, contrary to what some people may believe, humans actually produce 150 times the amount of greenhouse gases that volcanoes do. More info from the University of North Dakota - http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/Gases/man.html

In fact, volcanoes emit large quantities of sulphur dioxide which blocks heat from the sun. Following major volcanic eruptions the temperature of the earth actually falls. The last time this happened was in 1991 after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. In 1815 there was an even bigger eruption when Mount Tambora erupted, the following year became known as 'The Year Without A Summer'
http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/climate_effects.html
http://www.cmar.csiro.au/e-print/open/greenhouse_2000e.htm

Fires, animals and vegetation are all contributors to global warming but in their natural state form part of the natural carbon cycle, a cycle which is more or less in equilibrium.

Slash and burn practices, deforestation, clear felling, rice cultivation, intensive agriculture and other human activities contribute considerable amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Excluding anthropogenic effects global sinks result in a net deficit of 3 billion tons of CO2 a year largely through vegetation and carbon sinks. However, human activities more than offset the net loss - in 2006 we put 29 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, an overall net increase of 26 billion tons. http://profend.com/global-warming/pages/causes.html

4) You're correct in saying that weather phenomena and air movements are caused by temperature variations but the world isn't warming consistently. The coldest places are warming faster than warmer places, the greatest increases in the last 200 years of so have been observed in Antarctica, the Arctic, Siberia etc. Global temperature variations have increased and are predicted to keep increasing. http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Image:Global_Warming_Predictions_Map_jpg This is believed to be one of the reasons that there has been a significant increase in extreme weather activity in recent decades http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:kskpdh2Na5wJ:ftp://texmex.mit.edu/pub/emanuel/PAPERS/NATURE03906.pdf+NATURE03906&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=uk

5) There is a lot of talk about scientists having much to gain by pushing the concept of global warming, it's often said that they receive much funding as a result. There is indeed funding made available, but there would also be funding for other projects for scientists to become engaged in. It's somewhat inaccurate when some people say that scientists have much to gain from global warming, the majority are on a salary and get paid the same regardless as to the work they're involved in.

The winners will most likely be the companies that are able to provide environmentally sound energy resources. In recent years every major power and oil company has diverged into these areas.

I hope this goes some way to answering the points you raised.