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What is climate change?

Climate vs Weather

A good description of the relationship between climate and weather is the saying "climate is what you expect, weather is what you get". Climate is essentially a long term description of weather patterns like rain, wind, temperature, sunshine and so on. This description encompasses not just average amounts of the above quantities, but also their range and variability.

 

If you've ever been to Melbourne, you'd know that the weather can change in a matter of minutes. Changes in climate are much more gradual, occurring over timespans of thousands to millions of years.

 

This is important, because the earth's plants and animals depend on the climate to which they are exposed. Humans are no exception. When climate change is gradual, life on earth has a better chance of adapting.

 

The crops and water resources that we use to sustain our communities are linked to the climate, and the economic as well as human losses that we experience from hail, cyclones, floods, droughts and bushfires are a reminder of our ever-present vulnerability to the climate system.

 

Climate Change

It has recently become clear that our climate is now changing at a rate unprecedented throughout much of human history. Significant increases in average global temperatures have been observed over the last half century.

 

The consensus is that human activity is the number one cause of these changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Page last updated: 04 August 2008