Climate Change

Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns that lasts for an extended period of time. The Earth's climate has been changing throughout the history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial alivence and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives. At present, the current scenario of the climate change is at alarming levels. The present warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is very likely human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300 years. Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. This body of data, collected over many years, reveals the signals of a changing climate.