By definition, “global warming” refers to the rise in global temperatures due mainly to the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. “Climate change” refers to the increasing changes in the measures of climate over a long period of time – including precipitation, temperature, and wind patterns.

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Unfortunately, both global warming and climate change exist and are real. Global warming is causing climate change. The picture above, created by Ed Hawkins, climate scientist at University of Reading, shows the global temperature from 1850 - 2018. The temperature is clearly rising; therefore, global warming exists and is causing climate change.

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Since the second industrial revolution began in 1870, global temperatures have risen a little more than 2°F (1°C) according to an ongoing temperature analysis conducted by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). Although this may seem insignificant, a tremendous amount of heat is required to warm all the oceans, land, and atmosphere by that much.

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In the past, a one- to two-degree drop was all it took to plunge the Earth into the Little Ice Age. A five-degree drop was enough to bury a large part of North America under a towering mass of ice 20,000 years ago.