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In the 1980s, the terms global warming and climate change became more common, often being used interchangeably. [ 29 ] [ 30 ] [ 31 ] Scientifically, global warming refers only to increased surface warming, while climate change describes both global warming and its effects on Earth's climate system , such as precipitation changes.
A study by Climate Central, a U.S.-based research group, looked at temperatures in 180 countries and 22 territories and found that 98% of the world's population were exposed to higher temperatures ...
[1] [2] It is a concrete form of the more general I = PAT equation [3] relating factors that determine the level of human impact on climate. Although the terms in the Kaya identity would in theory cancel out, it is useful in practice to calculate emissions in terms of more readily available data, namely population, GDP per capita, energy per ...
In addition to global climate variability and global climate change over time, numerous climatic variations occur contemporaneously across different physical regions. The oceans' absorption of about 90% of excess heat has helped to cause land surface temperatures to grow more rapidly than sea surface temperatures. [ 132 ]
In terms of quantitative elements, they provide data accompanying the scenarios on national population, urbanization and GDP (per capita). [6] The SSPs can be quantified with various Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) to explore possible future pathways both with regards to socioeconomic and climate pathways. [4] [5] [6] The five scenarios are:
The climate system will vary in response to changes in forcings. [15] The climate system will show internal variability both in the presence and absence of forcings imposed on it. This internal variability is a result of complex interactions between components of the climate system, such as the coupling between the atmosphere and ocean. [16]
Climate (from Ancient Greek κλίμα 'inclination') is commonly defined as the weather averaged over a long period. [9] The standard averaging period is 30 years, [10] but other periods may be used depending on the purpose. Climate also includes statistics other than the average, such as the magnitudes of day-to-day or year-to-year variations.
Many parameters influence climate change scenarios. Three important parameters are the number of people (and population growth), their economic activity new technologies. Economic and energy models, such as World3 and POLES, quantify the effects of these parameters. Climate change scenarios exist at a national, regional or global scale.