General Article What causes climate change?

Topic Selected: Climate Change Book Volume: 426

Burning fossil fuels for energy, transport and industry releases greenhouse gases, which cause global warming. Things like farming, cutting down forests and overfishing are making it worse. There is no doubt that human activities are causing climate change, which means we are also able to stop it.

The main cause of climate change is burning fossil fuels – such as coal, oil and gas – to produce energy and power transport.

Along with other human activities, like cutting down forests and farming, this releases heat-trapping pollution called greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, warming the planet and destabilising the climate.

The world is now warming faster than at any point in human history. The effects are extreme weather like heavy rain or droughts, long-term shifts in weather patterns, melting ice and rising sea levels. Climate change is already having huge impacts on people and the environment worldwide.

Human activities that release greenhouse gases need to be urgently curbed as...

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