Long-term, significant statistical changes in the Earth's climate system, mainly caused by rapid global temperature rise driven by human activities.

Climate Change

Our Planet is Running a Fever

Climate Change refers to long-term, significant statistical changes in the Earth's climate system. Although Earth's climate has always changed naturally, what we refer to as "climate change" today specifically means the rapid increase in global temperatures since the late 19th century, driven by human activities (especially the burning of fossil fuels), also known as Global Warming.

Main Cause: The Enhanced Greenhouse Effect

Certain gases in the Earth's atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide (CO_2) and methane (CH_4), can absorb and re-radiate heat. These are known as Greenhouse gases. They act like a blanket, keeping the Earth warm—this is the natural "greenhouse effect."

However, human activities have released excessive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, thickening this "blanket." This causes the Earth to retain more energy than it radiates back into space, leading to a continuous rise in the global average temperature.

Observed Impacts

• More Frequent Extreme Weather Events: More frequent and intense heatwaves, droughts, floods, and hurricanes.
• Melting Glaciers and Sea Level Rise: The accelerated melting of polar ice caps and mountain glaciers is directly causing global sea levels to rise, threatening coastal cities.
• Ecosystem Disruption: Coral bleaching, shifts in species habitats, posing a significant challenge to Species Protection.

Recommended Reading

• Popular Science:
  • (Book) Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction by Mark Maslin. (ISBN: 9780198867869)
  • (Book) An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It by Al Gore. (ISBN: 9781594865671)
• Textbooks:
  • (Report) The IPCC Assessment Reports
• Further Reading:
  • (Book) The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells. (ISBN: 9780525576716)