What’s the Difference Between Global Warming and Climate Change? And Why the Difference in Language Matters.

 

The back story

I attended an interview the other day, it was a normal run of the mill type interview, where I went to talk about the current "drought" situation that we are experiencing in the UK at present. The gentleman I was interviewing was a farmer, whose land follows the course of the River Severn. His livelihood is hanging in the balance because of floods in winter, drought ridden springs and summers, not to mention the erratic weather patterns. He was on the verge of selling up because it was becoming impossible to remain profitable. During the conversation, he used global warming and climate change interchangeably. It made me realise that many people don't know the difference between the two - and there are huge differences! 

The realisation that people don't know the difference is not just a question of semantics. They are not wrong exactly, but the two are not interchangeable. Understanding the difference truly matters. When the debate of climate change / global warming opens up, we need to be fully equipped with the knowledge to create debate, counter climate change denial, and develop a fuller understanding if we are to get people engaged.

So what is the difference?

The best place to start is to take it back to the basics. 

Global warming is solely about temperature. To be more specific, it is concerned with the long term-rise in the average temperature of the oceans and the atmosphere. The main hypothesis is that humans, moreover human activity, are directly responsible for increases in greenhouse gases - activities like burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial emissions.

When we talk about "global warming" we are talking about the stats and the questions these figures raise. How much has the planet heated up since the pre-industrial era? What role does CO2 and Methane  play in trapping in heat? The numbers are quantifiable, specific, but they are only a symptom of something much bigger.

Now, let's talk climate change. That is the bigger picture that we have hinted at. Global warming is a symptom, climate change is the disease. It includes global warming but it also includes all the knock-on effects such as rising sea levels, melting glaciers, shifts in weather patterns, more extreme storms, excess flooding, and longer droughts. All things that can be seen first hand by many.

Sadly, their are certain political factions who either put their heads in the sand, or are complete deniers of any kind of climate issue. I am a resident of Worcester and have been for 15 years, but also a resident of Worcestershire for the last 25 years. All that time I have lived alongside the River Severn, or Sabrina as I affectionately like to call her. I have witnessed and been part of huge flooding events. I'm not talking the flood plains filling up, the river does that from time to time, but I am talking about flood events that occur at dangerous speeds, or dangerous levels - directly impacting people and businesses.

In July 2007, I was a resident of Upton Upon Severn - but also a member of the volunteer inshore search and rescue team based in Upton. We had been tasked with helping the town and surrounding area in times of need - flooding being one of them. One Wednesday evening, whilst out on a team training exercise on the river, we got a call to head back to the station immediately. The weather was really hot and sunny - we had no idea of the change that was about occur. We got back to the station to be told we had been tasked to attend all the residential areas on the riverside and give them a warning to start to protect their homes and belongings from a flood that was coming our way. People just stood and looked at us in disbelief - Sabrina was quietly flowing by and the sun was shining. People thought we were joking - the station started getting calls of complaint. That evening the rain started - well I say rain, what I actually mean is a weather bomb hit us. This wasn't ordinary rain but prolonged torrential rainfall. 

Over a 30 hour period, the rains accumulated and dumped a tremendous amount of water over the River Severn catchment area. The upshot being a wall of water that came down the river - all the while, picking up more flood water as it made its way south towards Upton Upon Severn. The river rose rapidly, quickly swamping flood plains and farm land, then then the roads and motorways. The area became almost impassable to vehicles. Homes that were normally safe from flooding were swamped. The caravan and holiday parks that line the river bank were now in the river. The dangerous levels of debris coming down the river were unprecedented. A pontoon in Upton Upon Severn, with a number of boats moored to it, was in danger of floating off its stanchions and breaking free. The call was made to weld additional height onto the stanchions - a dangerous operation but one that thankfully saved lives and property. 

Why does it matter to know the difference?

Going back to my point about denial and deniers, I've experienced climate change first hand - it leads me to question how can people deny climate change when they live with a river that used to experience a 5m flood every 50 years, but now floods at 5m+ four times per year, as is the case in 2024/2025. In recent years, the flood records have been tumbling and tumbling with alarming frequency. This is why being equipped with the right knowledge and the right terminology really matters. The deniers will wriggle and squirm their way out of human responsibility for climate change - usually because they have vested financial interest somewhere.

Language and how we communicate global warming and climate change is important. It is a complex issue and this complexity feeds denial. The denial campaigners will try to seize on anything they can find to disprove that which some of us have experienced and continue to experience first hand. The one thing that we should all be clear on is the difference between global warming and climate change.

Communication should open up discourse about the earth heating up, floods hitting homes in Worcester, farmers struggling with unseasonal weather that ruins crops, vulnerable communities facing rising seas and disappearing coastlines. Large events with far-reaching impacts but the language that surrounds these events must be clear, accurate, and understood by all concerned. Through a complete understanding of the distinction, we create the space for better conversations - ones that lead to solutions, not arguments over semantics.

The role of language in the climate crisis

As we have seen, words matter. In order for us all to adapt to the changes taking place, learn to mitigate, campaign together, and more importantly - innovate together - we need to be absolutely clear about what we are up against.

Global warming is the cause - climate change is the effect. That effect is ever present in our towns, cities and countryside. It effects the way we live, the food we eat, the air we breathe. It should also effect the language we use.

Final Thoughts

The next time someone mentions global warming, ask them what they truly mean. It's not about tripping people up, opening them up for ridicule - but to invite them to gain a much fuller knowledge and understanding of the issues we face. It should always be about what is happening on our planet. The more of us who understand it, and get it, the more of us there are to take action and do something about it.

That's where hope truly begins.