What does the term "climate change" refer to?

The term "climate change" specifically refers to significant and long-term changes in global temperatures and weather patterns. This encompasses alterations in precipitation levels, extreme weather events, and shifts in seasonal cycles that can affect various ecosystems and human activities. Climate change is primarily driven by human activities, especially the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to burning fossil fuels and deforestation, leading to global warming and its associated impacts.

The other options do not accurately define climate change. Changes in geographic locations pertain more to shifts in human or environmental contexts rather than the climatic system itself. Short-term weather variations relate to daily or seasonal weather changes, which do not capture the prolonged and far-reaching impacts of climate change. A decrease in biodiversity may result from climate change but does not encompass the broader concept of changing climate and its effects on temperature and weather patterns.