WHAT CAUSES CLIMATE CHANGE?

 

WHAT CAUSES CLIMATE CHANGE?

We are humans who want the same thing every other human wants — a safe place to live on this planet we call home. So while our work must continue to be unbiased and objective, increasingly we are raising our voices, adding to the clear message that climate change is real and humans are responsible, the impacts are serious and we must act now. 

KATHARINE HAYHOE, CLIMATE SCIENTIST

There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that global warming is mostly man-made: climate scientists have come to this conclusion almost unanimously.

One of the biggest drivers by far is our burning of fossil fuels – coal, gas and oil – which has increased the concentration of greenhouse gases – such as carbon dioxide – in our atmosphere. This, coupled with other activities like clearing land for agriculture, is causing the average temperature of our planet to increase. In fact, scientists are as certain of the link between greenhouse gases and global warming as they are of the link between smoking and lung cancer.

This is not a recent conclusion. The scientific community has collected and studied the data on this for decades. Warnings about global warming started making headlines back in the late 1980s.

In 1992, 165 nations signed an international treaty, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They have held meetings annually ever since (called “Conference of the Parties” or COP), with the aim of developing goals and methods to reduce climate change as well as adapt to its already visible effects. Today, 197 countries are bound by the UNFCCC.