What climate change is

A summary of climate change, its main drivers and what this means for our planet.

Climate change results from long-term shifts in the Earth’s temperatures and weather patterns. The main driver of climate change is the changing levels of atmospheric gases, known as greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Greenhouse gases let sunlight pass through the atmosphere and heat the Earth’s surface, but absorb some of the heat radiated from the Earth’s surface and redirect it back to the surface. This reduces heat loss from the Earth keeping it warm.

The more greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere, the more heat is radiated back, thereby increasing the average surface temperature of the Earth. Carbon dioxide is one of the main greenhouse gases.

Since the industrial revolution, human activities have been the main driver of climate change. This is mainly a consequence of both burning fossil fuels and releasing the carbon dioxide stored in them, and reducing the natural carbon dioxide stores. For example, through deforestation, intensification of land-use for farming and the depletion of large animal communities on land and sea which are needed to maintain the ecosystems.

This has resulted in the Earth’s carbon dioxide concentration, and therefore its temperature, rising faster and higher than at any time in at least the last 2,000 years.