Global Warming vs. Climate Change

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This video by Media Matters on the Zany Denialists on Fox News ………

….. is nicely augmented by this blog post by Phil Plait: Climate Change or Global Warming? Both.

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14 thoughts on “Global Warming vs. Climate Change

  1. Of course, you have always referred to it as Climate Change… oh, wait: “The Truth About Global Warming’s Famous Slowdown” – April 24, 2013;
    “Does last Saturday’s record low at MSP signal the end of global warming?” – April 23, 2013
    “Arctic Sea Ice Loss Due to Global Warming” – April 23, 2013

    “Why is it snowing so much in the Northern US States this Spring? Two words: Global Warming.” (Why is winter not ending? – April 15, 2013)

    So, which is it?

    Whichever it is, what is there about it that we should be so fearful of? It has happened in the past, the climate is not the only immutable thing in the universe. Why is it so frightening now? Even the rate of increase (0.7°C over the past century) is frightening only in its normality. Has it peaked or has it paused? Well, only time will tell. As there is nothing that we can do about it, why don’t we just wait and see; as yet, nothing truly alarming has happened; the Maldives are still there, Piazzo San Marco floods no deeper than it has often done for decades, the Thames barrage has not been used to stem floods of the magnitude in the 1960s that instigated its construction.

  2. Radical. Global warming is a thing. Deal.

    Climate change is a thing too.

    I’ll leave it to you to work out the mind blowingly complex relationship between them.

    Warming has not peaked or paused, though there are a few people insisting that it has; they just have it wrong. There is one thing we can indeed to about it: Not cause it.

    Interesting that you focus on sea level rise but fail to mention Kiribati or New York City.

  3. There was a global temperature change graphic shown by one of the denialist clips – their words said “cooling”, the graphic showed significant warming (assuming yellow -> red was an increasing temperature). Not uncommon for them to show data supporting GC whilst claiming it contradicts GC. Dunning-Kruger effect at work, I guess.

  4. Global warming would be the cause, and climate change would be one effect. This seems fairly clear cut to me. I see no reason to try to treat the two phrases as synonyms, or replacement terms, or whatever.

  5. I would say that “climate change” is a larger category and “global warming” is a specific phenomenon.

    Although “warming” can happen in a number of ways, the actual term “global warming” when actually used means “anthropogenic global warming caused by human release of fossil carbon bla bla bla” but people also say things like “global warming could be part natural part human”

    The “libruls” want to use “climate change” instead of “global warming” in part because climate change includes ocean acidification which is not warming, but rather, an effect of the absorption by the sea of CO2 …. the ocean stores CO2 as acid, inconveniently.

  6. I actually think this is kind of a lousy video. It is a glaring example of the familiarity backfire effect (at least I think that is the term). It devotes far more time to describing the myth than to refuting it, and the refutation is only revealed at the end. It might be entertaining for those who already already know the facts, but for most of those who don’t, what they will remember is the myth, not refutation. It would be far more effective to have the footage of Luntz at the beginning.

  7. The term ‘global warming’ was changed to ‘climate change’ simply to worry the public less. For those of us that have 100% faith in the government, this is for you. See how a simple word change can change the thoughts of the mankind. No matter what it is called, ‘climate change’, global warming’ or ‘global change’, it all boils down to the same issue; ENVIRONMENT. When are we all meant to wake up and do something? When the world is ending?

  8. That’s not why the term was changed. The term “climate change” was there all along and used in a different context. Then “climate change” started to replace “global warming” but for different reasons for different people. Lots of people have a story about THE reason it changed, but in fact different groups and individuals adopted the terminology for a range of reasons. One of the reasons is that the release of fossil C into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels has a number of effects on climate, with global warming being the big one, but others being important as well.

    But yes, this is all part of a larger issue as you say.

  9. I suggest that basing your conclusions about climate change and CO2 on a 4th grade textbook is a bad idea. Your argument is simple minded and idiotic. That’s what!

  10. Actually, my 4th grade texbook agrees with prominent scientists posting in the Wall Street Journal. And, BTW, “You’re stupid” is a lame rebuttal. If you want to click on and critique my podcast point by point, great. If not, ignore it.

  11. David, last time I checked the Wall Street Journal was not a peer reviewed scientific source, and they are known for having commentary and editorial that panders to corporate interests. Or, should I say, “wall street” interests. So the fact that they’ve got climate change wrong is not a surprise.

    I clicked on your critique, it was stupid.

  12. Using a 4th grade textbook as a tool to base conclusions on scientific discussions? Really David, your argument is that since scientists didn’t refer to this unnamed grade school book they are wrong? Are you capable of reading any scientific or statistical analysis of the topic?

    I hang out with Pentecostals; they are my tribe. Yes, we speak in tongues and believe in healing.

    Aaaah, I see, you aren’t capable.

  13. Global warming is a hoax funded by big business in order to give way for the implementation of CO2 capture without resistance from humanity. I recall that CO2 is needed for plant growth. The agenda is to stunt plant growth thus we will be dependent on synthetic foods by big businesses. These synthetic foods will poison our bodies thus we will dependent on their modern medicine. These are facets of Global control.

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