Unsure about global warming vs climate change? You’re in good company. Global warming is the rise in Earth’s surface temperature; climate change is the wider set of changes that warming drives.
If you want the wider picture, the guide to climate change is the place to start.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Rise in average surface temperature since 1880 | About 1 °C (about 2 °F), relative to a 1951-1980 baseline |
| Extra warming between 1750 and 1880 | About 0.15 °C |
| Length of Earth’s history | 4.54 billion years |
| Length of natural ice age cycles | About 100,000 years, for at least the last million years |
| Period in which today’s warming rate appears unmatched | Roughly the past 11,000 years |
These figures come from NASA Science and an archived NOAA Climate.gov page (archived as of June 25, 2025). Figures can change as datasets are updated, so check the sources before you rely on them.
What each term means
Global warming is the long-term rise in the planet’s average surface temperature. According to NASA Science, the average surface temperature has risen about 1 °C (about 2 °F) since 1880, relative to a 1951-1980 baseline. That sits on top of about 0.15 °C of warming between 1750 and 1880.
Climate change is the wider term. NASA Science says it encompasses global warming but covers the broader range of changes happening to the planet, including:
- rising sea levels
- shrinking mountain glaciers
- accelerating ice melt in Greenland, Antarctica and the Arctic
- shifts in the blooming times of flowers and plants
NOAA Climate.gov offers a simple way to picture it: global warming is one symptom of the much larger problem of human-caused climate change. The temperature is the headline number, while the side effects are what people notice in daily life.
How the two terms are connected
The link between them is cause and effect. Skeptical Science sums it up this way: human greenhouse gas emissions are causing global warming, which in turn is causing climate change.
The warming itself comes from heat-trapping gases building up in the air, and the mechanism is explained further on the page about the greenhouse effect. In its August 2023 explainer, NASA describes Earth’s surface heating up because of increasing amounts of these gases released by humans burning fossil fuels.
Because the two ideas are so closely tied, people often use them interchangeably in everyday conversation, as Skeptical Science notes. NASA’s answer to whether they are the same thing is a plain “not quite”: each has its own meaning, but they are related.
Is all climate change caused by humans?
No. NOAA Climate.gov explains that when scientists or public leaders talk about global warming these days, they almost always mean human-caused warming. Climate change, by contrast, can mean human-caused changes or natural ones, such as ice ages.
The planet has changed before. Climate.gov notes that Earth’s average temperature has fluctuated throughout the planet’s 4.54 billion-year history, with long cold periods and warm periods on 100,000-year cycles for at least the last million years (source).
Humans can alter the climate in more than one way, according to Climate.gov:
- burning coal, oil and gas, which raises carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
- emitting aerosol pollution, the tiny particles that reflect sunlight and cool the climate
- transforming landscapes, for instance from carbon-storing forests to farmland
Natural drivers do not explain the recent trend. The same NOAA Climate.gov page says that over the last five decades, natural factors such as solar forcing and volcanoes would actually have led to a slight cooling. It also says the current rise appears to be happening much faster than at any point in the past 11,000 years or so.
Why two terms exist
The two phrases track how scientific understanding grew. NOAA Climate.gov, drawing on historian Spencer Weart, describes a rough sequence:
- As far back as the late 1800s, scientists were hypothesizing that industrialization, driven by burning fossil fuels, could modify the climate.
- By the mid-1970s, more evidence suggested warming would dominate, and the phrase “global warming” emerged to describe that consensus.
- By the 1990s, scientists increasingly used “human-caused climate change” to describe the challenge facing the planet.
The shift happened because heat absorbed by greenhouse gases does more than raise the thermometer. Climate.gov points to sea level rise, an intensifying water cycle and stress on plants and animals as changes likely to matter a great deal to daily life and economies.
NASA’s August 2023 explainer lists some observed impacts: decreases in Arctic ice, droughts, increasing wildfires and increasing surface temperatures (NASA). The page on the effects of climate change looks at these consequences in more depth.
Did someone rename global warming to climate change?
It is a common claim, but Skeptical Science says the two terms mean different things and have both been used for decades. It points to a letter titled simply “Climate Change” published in Science in 1971, the journal Climatic Change created in 1977, and the IPCC formed in 1988.
The same page says the only individual to have specifically advocated changing the name was a global warming “skeptic”. It identifies him as political strategist Frank Luntz, writing in a memo about communicating on the environment. In other words, the wording was not swapped by scientists to disguise a pause in warming.
Which term should you use?
Both are correct when used for the right job. A simple rule of thumb keeps your wording accurate:
- Use global warming when you mean the rise in average surface temperature.
- Use climate change when you mean the wider set of shifts, such as melting ice, changing rainfall or more drought.
- Say human-caused climate change when you want to be clear that people are the main driver.
Mixing the terms in casual talk is rarely a problem. In writing that aims to be precise, matching the term to the meaning avoids confusion.
Frequently asked questions
Is climate change the same as global warming?
Show answer
Not quite. In its August 2023 explainer, NASA says each term has its own meaning, but they are related.
Is global warming a part of climate change?
Show answer
Yes. NASA Science says climate change encompasses global warming but refers to the broader range of changes happening to the planet.
Can climate change happen naturally?
Show answer
Yes. NOAA Climate.gov says climate change can mean human-caused or natural changes, such as ice ages. Today’s global warming, however, is overwhelmingly due to heat-trapping gases that humans add by burning fossil fuels.
Is “climate change” a newer term?
Show answer
No. Skeptical Science notes a 1971 letter titled “Climate Change” and a journal called Climatic Change created in 1977, long before recent debates about wording.
