From Envirowiki

Global warming generally refers to the increase of heat in the atmosphere and subsequently in the oceans. most often, it refers to increase of heat due to human influences such as greenhouse gas emissions.

Global Warming is easily misunderstood, as it actually refers to increase in the average global temperature, and not to all temperatures. It is possible that a higher average global temperature would actually cause more intense cold snaps in some regions^{[reference needed]}. for this reason, as well as it causing other effects, it has largely been replaced with the more general climate change, which includes other effects, such as floods and droughts and secondary effects such as increased spread of disease.