CLIMATE CHANGE

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HAVING TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING TERMS?

In order to understand the information you're reading, it is important to first have a firm grasp on the vocabulary being used. Climate change jargon can often be not only confusing but misleading as well. If you find yourself struggling with a certain word or phrase, visit our "Useful Definitions" page and we'll help you figure out what it means!

INTRODUCTION

I’ve learned not to ask people what their views on global warming are when it’s ten below and snowing. Usually the response is a skeptical look and a snort followed by an incredulous, “You’re kidding right?”

No, unfortunately we’re not.

It's hard to think about our world gradually turning into an Easy Bake oven while contending with frostbitten fingers and toes.
Perhaps the initial problem is in the terminology we use. To begin, let’s define the difference between climate change and global warming. While the debate surrounding what Al Gore has called Earth’s climate crisis heats up (yes, pun intended) similarly minded individuals are questioning what they should call the gradual warming of our globe’s surface temperature.

The term “global warming” aptly describes the changes scientists are seeing in our atmosphere today although I’ll admit it’s hard to think about our world gradually turning into an Easy Bake oven while contending with frostbitten fingers and toes. What about Gore’s “climate crisis”? Perhaps that’s a bit too doomsday for our purposes. By using “global climate change,” instead of the previous options, we’re encompassing the multitude of issues facing our changing world.

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