Global warming refers to the steady increase in Earth’s average surface temperature that scientists have noticed and recorded over the past century or so. This is happening mostly because people are burning fossil fuels like coal and oil, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that plants had absorbed through photosynthesis over millions of years. This carbon dioxide is amplified by the natural greenhouse effect, causing Earth’s average temperature to rise.
Scientists are confident that human activity is the primary cause of the current worldwide temperature changes. The unchecked burning of fossil fuels has drastically increased the amount of atmospheric greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, while logging and development have destroyed many forests and other natural “carbon sinks” that would otherwise be helping to keep atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gas down.
These factors have combined to skew Earth’s natural climate patterns and to cause many of the world’s most serious problems, including extreme heat, prolonged drought, flooding, more intense storms, sea level rise, and more biodiversity loss. In a series of reports, scientists and government reviewers agreed that limiting future warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) would help avoid the most dangerous impacts of global warming, while keeping our planet hospitable to human life.
However, the rate of climate change is now so fast that achieving this goal looks increasingly out of reach. As of 2021, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that a continued buildup of carbon emissions could bring global temperatures to 2.7 degrees Celsius above benchmark levels by the end of the century.
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