Climate Change

  Climate change "Global warming" redirects here. For other uses, see  Climate change (disambiguation)  and  Global warming (disambiguation) . This article is about contemporary climate change. For historical climate trends, see  Climate variability and change . Average surface air temperatures 2011–21 compared to 1956–76 Change in average surface air temperature since the  Industrial Revolution , plus drivers for that change. Human activity has caused increased temperatures, with natural forces adding some variability. [1] In common usage,  climate change  describes  global warming —the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's  climate system .  Climate change in a broader sense  also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The  current rise in global average temperature  is more rapid than previous changes, and is  primarily caused by humans  burning...