climate change

Table of Contents

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

For Students

climate change: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

News •

Climate Change Is Stressing the World’s Blood Supplies • Apr. 18, 2025, 8:03 AM ET (New York Times)

Bloomberg Australia: Climate Change and the Election • Apr. 16, 2025, 4:43 PM ET (Bloomberg.com)

Also Known As	climatic fluctuation • climate variation • climatic variation • climatic change

Topics

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

William Nordhaus

American economist

Greta Thunberg

Swedish activist

Al Gore

vice president of United States

Milutin Milankovitch

Serbian mathematician and geophysicist

Eduard Brückner

Austrian geographer and climatologist

Causes

Fossil-fuel combustion, deforestation, rice cultivation, livestock ranching, industrial production, and other human activities have increased since the development of agriculture and especially since the start of the Industrial Revolution.
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapour, absorb infrared radiation emitted from Earth's surface and reradiate it back, thus contributing to the greenhouse effect.
Ice sheets, sea ice, terrestrial vegetation, ocean temperatures, weathering rates, ocean circulation, and GHG concentrations are influenced either directly or indirectly by the atmosphere; however, they also all feed back into the atmosphere and influence it in important ways.
Periodic changes in Earth's orbit and axial tilt with respect to the Sun (which occur over tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years) affect how solar radiation is distributed on Earth's surface.
Tectonic movements, which change the shape, size, position, and elevation of the continental masses and the bathymetry of the oceans, have had strong effects on the circulation of both the atmosphere and the oceans.
The brightness of the Sun continues to increase as the star ages and it passes on an increasing amount of this energy to Earth's atmosphere over time.

Effects

Human societies have changed adaptively in response to climate variations, although evidence abounds that certain societies and civilizations have collapsed in the face of rapid and severe climatic changes.
The complex feedbacks between climate components can produce "tipping points" in the climate system, where small, gradual changes in one component of the system can lead to abrupt climate changes.
The history of life has been strongly influenced by changes in climate, some of which radically altered the course of evolution.
The most familiar and predictable phenomena are the seasonal cycles, to which people adjust their clothing, outdoor activities, thermostats, and agricultural practices.

Quiz