CLIMATE CHANGE DEFINED AND EXPLAINED

Climate change gets at the long-term shifts in global weather patterns and average temperatures that have been observed over decades due to human-caused acceleration of the greenhouse effect. Scientists have warned of the profound impacts on ecosystems and communities if rapid action isn’t taken to reduce emissions driving climate change.

The greenhouse effect is a natural process by which gases in the atmosphere like carbon dioxide and methane trap heat from the sun, warming the planet similar to how glass traps heat in a greenhouse. The effect makes life possible by regulating Earth’s temperature.

But since the Industrial Revolution when humans began burning large amounts of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas for energy production, society has pumped billions of tons of excess greenhouse gas into the atmosphere beyond what natural systems can safely absorb. Concentrations of planet-warming carbon dioxide are over 50% higher today than pre-industrial times.

As more heat is trapped, global temperatures rise steadily. The past decade has been the hottest on modern record. Higher temperatures contribute to melting glaciers and ice sheets, rising seas, warming oceans, more extreme storms, wildfires, drought, seasonal timing shifts and other marked climate changes that threaten infrastructure, food chains, water access, public health, economic stability and industries across regions.

Over 97% of actively publishing climate scientists agree human activity is extremely likely the main driver of current climate warming trends based on considerable evidence gathered from paleoclimate research on ancient climate shifts, atmospheric data, rising sea levels and climate models incorporating thousands of variables.

While skeptics argue recent natural variability or sun cycles better explain modern warming, scientifically observed temperature increases closely correlate with the steep rise of industrial greenhouse emissions while lacking alternative explanations supported by strong empirical evidence.

To wit, climate change hints at the measurable rise in global temperatures, sea levels and disruption of historical weather patterns due to modern human society’s escalated emission of heat-trapping greenhouse gases that enable the planet to support life. Addressing causes, impacts and solutions around this existential threat is considered humanity’s greatest challenge today by the global scientific community.