Climate change explained

Source: https://www.ucsusa.org/our-work/global-warming/science-and-impacts/global-warming-science

Scientists know that certain gases trap heat and act like a blanket to warm the planet. One of the most important is carbon dioxide (CO2), which we release into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels — oil, coal, and natural gas — to generate electricity, power our vehicles, and heat our homes. As we overload our atmosphere with carbon dioxide, more and more heat is trapped — and Earth steadily warms up in response. How do we know? The scientific evidence is overwhelming. Detailed measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have been taken continuously since the late 1950s. The data show that CO2 levels have steadily increased every year. In 2017, they were 28 percent higher than in 1959, the year CO2 measurements began at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.

What's more, scientists have detailed records of past CO2 levels from ice core studies, which show that CO2 levels are higher today than at least any point in the last 800,000 years.

The new climate is not a new stable climate, climate warming will accelerate because the melting of polar ice sheets will reduce sunlight reflection outwards, back to the Universe, and because of the additional release of CO2 and methane from the melting ice. Increased ocean temperature will lead to the phytoplankton population decline. Phytoplankton absorbs CO2 through photosynthesis, as do land plants. Reduction in phytoplankton will reduce CO2 absorption from the atmosphere and reduce the available oxygen to ocean-dwelling life forms.

Carbon dioxide emission rate: https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/carbon-dioxide/

Global temperature and CO2 levels: https://www.globalchange.gov/browse/multimedia/global-temperature-and-carbon-dioxide

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