Have you ever felt confused or misunderstood about the difference between climate change and global warming? You are not alone! With over one billion results in Google, each topic alone can be extremely confusing to many. In simplistic terms, “Climate Change” is the long-term changes in regional or global climates, such as rainfall, wind, and temperatures. So when you say to yourself “It feels hotter this summer” you aren’t making that up or exaggerating. In fact, July 2021 was officially the hottest month in recorded history!

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s surface due to the presence of gases in the atmosphere. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides, and chlorofluorocarbons. In easier terms, this is what scientists call Greenhouse gases. Global warming causes melting glaciers at the poles, violent tropical storms such as the recent hurricane IDA and extended periods of drought such as the one experienced this summer out West, these droughts now called megadrought are impacts that we are now feeling from both Global warming and climate change.

The problem of Global warming and Climate change should not be underestimated. In fact, recently FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell called climate change the “crisis of our generation”

There are ways that we can help to mitigate the impacts of Global warming and Climate change, for example; using renewable electricity drastically helps to reduce carbon emissions and creates an opportunity to move away from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas which produce a vast majority of Greenhouse gas emissions.

We at ABEST are advocates of sustainability and have been serving  New York State residents with renewable electricity since 2012. Our focus has been to educate and help New Yorkers do their part by offering a renewable option to reduce their carbon footprint.