Climate Terms

Climate coverage is full of terms that get used interchangeably when they shouldn't be — climate change and global warming, weather and climate, net zero and carbon neutral. This collection sorts them out, one comparison or definition at a time, so you can read the news and the science with the vocabulary straight. Each entry gives the working scientific definition, explains where the everyday usage drifts from it, and shows the distinction in action with concrete examples. Definitions follow the usage of the IPCC and major scientific agencies, not whichever framing happens to be trending.