Climate Change (Plain-Language Summary)
Climate change happens when weather patterns change. This has happened a lot in the past and will continue to happen. It is a normal phenomenon. For example, the last cold period peaked approximately 18,000 years ago. This era is known as the Ice Age. After that, Earth’s climate began to warm again. Since the Industrial Revolution climate change has been happening very quickly. This period is known as “global warming.” There is one big difference between this period and the other periods of climate change that came before. The difference is that human beings have caused global warming.
(This article is a plain-language summary of Climate Change. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Climate Change.)