What do we call long-term changes in climate lasting over 10 years?

Long-term changes in climate that persist over a period of time exceeding 10 years are classified as climate change. This term encompasses significant alterations in temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, and other components of the Earth's climate system. Climate change can occur due to natural processes but is increasingly associated with human activity, such as greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and industrial processes, which contribute to global warming and alterations in climate patterns.

In contrast, weather patterns refer to the short-term conditions of the atmosphere, such as daily temperature and precipitation variations. Seasonal variations address the predictable changes that occur within a year due to Earth's axial tilt, resulting in different weather characteristics during winter, spring, summer, and fall. Meteorological trends may describe observable patterns within weather data but do not typically denote the long-lasting nature of changes in climate that are captured by the definition of climate change. Thus, the designation of climate change accurately reflects the extended duration and overarching impact on the Earth's systems.