climate change

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Earth system
Evidence for climate change
Causes of climate change
- Solar variability
- Volcanic activity
- Tectonic activity
- Orbital (Milankovich) variations
- Greenhouse gases
- Feedback
- Human activities
Climate change within a human life span
- Seasonal variation
- Interannual variation
- Decadal variation
Climate change since the emergence of civilization
- Centennial-scale variation
- Millennial and multimillennial variation
  - Thermal maxima
  - ENSO variation in the Holocene
  - Amplification of the Indian Ocean monsoon
Climate change since the advent of humans
- Recent glacial and interglacial periods
  - The most recent glacial phase
  - The Last Glacial Maximum
  - The last deglaciation
  - Climate change and the emergence of agriculture
- Glacial and interglacial cycles of the Pleistocene
- The last great cooling
Climate change through geologic time
- Cenozoic climates
- Phanerozoic climates
- Climates of early Earth
  - Faint young Sun paradox
  - Photosynthesis and atmospheric chemistry
  - Snowball Earth hypothesis
Abrupt climate changes in Earth history

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

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For Students

Combination shot of Grinnell Glacier taken from the summit of Mount Gould, Glacier National Park, Montana in the years 1938, 1981, 1998 and 2006.

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climate change

Also known as: climate variation, climatic change, climatic fluctuation, climatic variation

Written by Stephen T. Jackson

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Mar 11, 2024 • Article History

Grinnell Glacier shrinkage

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Category: Science & Tech

Key People:: William Nordhaus; Greta Thunberg; Al Gore; Milutin Milankovitch; Eduard Brückner

Related Topics:: global warming; greenhouse effect; season; Snowball Earth hypothesis; global cooling

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climate change, periodic modification of Earth’s climate brought about as a result of changes in the atmosphere as well as interactions between the atmosphere and various other geologic, chemical, biological, and geographic factors within the Earth system. The atmosphere is a dynamic fluid that is continually in motion. Both its physical properties and its rate and direction of motion are influenced by a variety of factors, including solar radiation, the geographic position of continents, ocean currents, the location and orientation of mountain ranges, atmospheric chemistry, and vegetation growing on the land surface. All these factors change through time. Some factors, ...(100 of 12125 words)

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