Climate terms

Letter to the Geelong Independent - 13/12/19

It seems there is some confusion about terms used in Climate Research.

'Global Warming' is about temperatures rising across the world. Measured temperatures, averaged across location, across season or across years are all going up. The rate of change is much higher in the last century or so than it has been over the rest of human history. The growth slowed a bit in the 1960s which caused some people to think there might be a downturn, but by the 1980s it was obvious that it was rising faster than ever. Global warming has been measured and is real.

'Climate' is simply the average weather across years and refers to a particular location. Weather varies over time and climate varies by place.

'Climate Change' is about the effects that come from rising temperatures. It would be astonishing if there were no change since temperature is one of the major factors in climate. Other important factors are the shape of the land, the amount of water, ground cover and air flow.

The way these things work together is very complicated and differs for each location. Also, since it is all about averages, only trends and likelihood can be given.

So any particular spot may become drier, wetter, windier, stormier - even cooler if normal currents are disrupted. It doesn't help a farmer that a desert area gets more rain if his land loses and becomes fire prone. Climate change affects everyone but how it manifests depends on where you are.

The 'Climate Emergency' is because almost any change will drastically affect our civilisation. After decades of warning, it is nearly too late to bring the train back onto the track.