The scientific basics of climate change
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By Jack Miller
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted by human activity (also referred to as ‘anthropogenic emissions’) have increased substantially since the industrial revolution, particularly in recent decades.
Although the Earth’s climate has been evolving for millions of years, research shows it’s extremely likely that these emissions have led to global warming in a short space of time. This in turn is causing climate change.
This Insight gives an overview of the basic concepts underlying GHG emissions, global warming and climate change, with references to further information and underlying research. The Insight UK and global emissions and temperature trends provides information on the data discussed here.
What is a greenhouse gas?
The Earth’s atmosphere is made up mainly of nitrogen, oxygen and argon (78.1%, 20.9% and 0.934% in dry air, respectively), as well as a mixture of other gases at much lower concentration.
When energy from sunlight reaches the Earth, much of it is absor...
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