Our Planet That Has Never Been Hotter.
Global warming is the unusually rapid increase in Earth’s average surface temperature over the past century primarily due to the greenhouse gases released as people burn fossil fuels. The global average surface temperature rose 0.6 to 0.9 degrees Celsius (1.1 to 1.6° F) between 1906 and 2005, and the rate of temperature increase has nearly doubled in the last 50 years. Temperatures are certain to go up further.
Global warming occurs when carbon dioxide (CO2) and other air pollutants collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the earth’s surface. Normally this radiation would escape into space, but these pollutants, which can last for years to centuries in the atmosphere, trap the heat and cause the planet to get hotter. These heat-trapping pollutants—specifically carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor, and synthetic fluorinated gases—are known as greenhouse gases, and their impact is called the greenhouse effect.
Each year scientists learn more about the consequences of global warming, and each year we also gain new evidence of its devastating impact on people and the planet. As the heat waves, droughts, and floods associated with climate change become more frequent and more intense, communities suffer and death tolls rise. If we’re unable to reduce our emissions, scientists believe that climate change could lead to the deaths of more than 250,000 people around the globe every year and force 100 million people into poverty by 2030.
Where possible, we can switch to renewable sources of energy
(such as solar and wind energy) to power our homes and
buildings, thus emitting far less heat-trapping gases into the
atmosphere.
Where feasible, we can drive electric vehicles
instead of those that burn fossil fuels; or we can use mass
transit instead of driving our own cars.
Where affordable,
we can conserve energy by better insulating our homes and
buildings, and by replacing old, failing appliances with more
energy-efficient models.
Where practicable, we can
counterbalance our annual carbon dioxide emissions by investing
in commercial services that draw down an equal amount of carbon
out of the atmosphere, such as through planting trees or carbon
capture and storage techniques.
Where practical, we can support more local businesses that use
and promote sustainable, climate-smart practices such as those
listed above.
We can consider placing an upper limit on
the amount of carbon dioxide we will allow ourselves to emit
into the atmosphere within a given timeframe.