Question

Which of these best describes the meaning of global climate change?

Answer 1

Climate change occurs when changes in the Earth's climate system lead to the emergence of new climatic patterns that remain in place for a long period of time, and this period of time may be as short as several decades or even millions of years. Scientists have identified many episodes of climate change throughout the Earth's geological history, and more recently, since the Industrial Revolution, the climate has been increasingly influenced by human activities that lead to global warming [1] and therefore it is common to use the two terms synonymously in this context.The climate system receives almost all of its energy from the sun, and the climate system sends energy to outer space. The balance of incoming and outgoing energy, as well as the passage of energy through the climate system, determine the Earth's energy budget. When the incoming energy is greater than the outgoing energy, the earth’s energy budget is positive and the climate system is warming. But if the outgoing volume is higher, the energy budget is negative and the earth experiences cooling.