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Climate is the average weather experienced over a long period – the Met Office works with a period of 30 years for this purpose – and includes temperature, wind and rainfall patterns. In the past, the Earth’s climate has changed many times in response to a variety of natural causes. The term ‘Climate Change’ is generally used to describe the changes in climate that have taken place since the 1900s.  In that time, the Earth has warmed by 0.74°C, and around 0.4°C of that global warming has occurred since the 1970s.  Climate scientists around the world agree that this global warming is the driver of climate change and is due largely to human activity producing an increased concentration of certain gases (notably carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere which is adding to the so-called Greenhouse Effect.