Climate change is a persistent alteration of the statistical behaviour of a planet's climate. External forcing and climate feedbacks both matter, and the timescale must be specified.
A climate feedback is a response to climate change that alters the initial warming or cooling. Positive feedback amplifies the change; negative feedback opposes it. Positive feedback alone does not prove an irreversible transition.
Warming can mobilize frozen organic material or change sediment conditions, increasing methane emissions and strengthening the greenhouse effect. Production, transport and atmospheric release must be distinguished: methane can dissolve or be oxidized before reaching the atmosphere. Observed seabed bubbles alone do not establish the magnitude or timing of a global atmospheric feedback.
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Climate change refers to significant and lasting changes in the Earth's climate, particularly those related to increases in global temperatures and shifts in weather patterns attributed primarily to human activities. While the Earth's climate has naturally fluctuated over geological time scales, the term "climate change" commonly focuses on the rapid changes observed since the late 19th century, largely due to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, deforestation, industrial processes, and various agricultural practices.
