Final answer:
Anthropogenic climate change refers to changes in climate caused or influenced by human activity, particularly the release of greenhouse gases, which accelerate global warming and have myriad impacts on weather patterns, ecosystems, and human societies.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that refers to the specifically human effects of climate change and its impact on global temperature is anthropogenic climate change. This concept addresses how human activities, particularly the emission of greenhouse gases, have significantly accelerated the planet's warming process. Although the planet undergoes natural climate variations, there's a strong consensus in the scientific community that recent rises in Earth's average surface temperature are largely attributed to human actions which enhance the greenhouse effect. As a result, we are witnessing more severe weather events, endangered ecosystems, and a plethora of challenges for human societies, such as increased coastal flooding, lack of food and water, and greater potential for violence. While climate change implies long-term shifts in climate patterns, it includes both natural and human-induced processes. The short-term effects could manifest as unusual temperature fluctuations, while the long-term effects include the melting of glaciers, rising sea levels, and significant impacts on agriculture, which could result in a drastic reduction of food crops like wheat due to changes in temperature and precipitation patterns. Understanding anthropogenic climate change is critical for developing strategies to mitigate these effects, including transitioning from fossil fuels to cleaner sources of energy, which could help to curb the pace of global warming and foster a more sustainable future for the planet and its inhabitants.