A temporal paradox occurs when an event in time creates a contradiction or inconsistency in the timeline. This often involves scenarios where actions taken in the past affect the future in ways that seem impossible. For example, if someone travels back in time and prevents their own birth, it raises questions about how they could exist to make that journey in the first place. One famous example of a temporal paradox is the grandfather paradox. In this scenario, a time traveler goes back to the past and accidentally prevents their grandfather from meeting their grandmother. This would mean the time traveler could never be born, leading to a logical inconsistency in the timeline.