CLI

MATECHANGE

Cli
matechanger ef
erstolong-t
erms hi
ftsi
ntemper atur
esandtypicalweatherpat
terns.
Whilesomec hangescanoccurnatural
l
y,thetermt odaypr
imari
lyreferst
ot hesi
gnif
icant
andrapidchangesobservedsi
nc ethemid-1800s,dri
venpredominantl
ybyhumanac ti
vit
ies
.

CAUSESOFPRESENTDAYCLI
MATECHANGE
Themaindr
iverofthecurr
entwarmingtr
endisthereleas
eofgr
eenhous egas
es(GHGs
)int
o
theat
mosphere,whic
htrapthesun'
[Link]
sisknownasthegreenhouseef
fec
t.

Fos
silFuel
s

Theburningofc
oal
,oi
l,andnat
uralgasforener
gy(el
ectr
ici
ty,t
ransport
,indus
try)i
sthe
l
arges
ts ourc
eofgr
eenhousegasemissi
ons,par
ti
cul
arl
ycarbondioxide(CO2).

Def
ores
tat
ion

Cut
tingdownandbur
ningfor
estsr
eleas
ess t
oredCO2 bac
kint
ot heair
.For
est
sal
so
nat
urall
yabs
orbCO2,sothei
rremovalreducest
hepl
anet'
sabi
l
itytoregul
atet
hegas.

Agr
icul
tur
eandI
ndus
try

Certai
nagricul
turalpract
ices(likel i
vest
oc kfar
ming)andi
ndustri
alprocessesr
eleas
eother
powerfulgreenhous egases,suc hasmet hane( CH4)andnit
rousoxide( N2O).Human
act
ivit
ieshavecaus edtheEar th'saverages urf
acetemper
aturetori
s ebyabout1.1degrees
Cel
siussincethelate19thc entur y,wit
ht herateofwarmi
ngac c
elerati
nginrecentdec
ades.

Maj
orEf
fec
tsofCl
i
mat
eChange

Thechangesintemper
atur
eandweat
hers
yst
emshavepr
ofoundandwi
des
preadef
fec
ts
acr
osstheglobe:
Gl
obalWar
mingandExt
remeHeat

I
ncreasi
nggl obalaveragetemperatur
esl
eadtomor efrequentandi
ntenseheatwaves.
MoreSevereSt ormsandFl oods:Awarmerat
mos phereholdsmoremoist
ure,res
ulti
ngin
moreintenserainfal
l
,whichc ont
ri
butest
ogreat
erfloodingandmorepower f
ultropi
cal
st
orms(c yc
lones/hurri
canes)
.

Dr
oughtandWat
erSc
arc
ity

Changesinprecipit
ati
onpatt
ernsl
eadtomorefrequentandpr
olongeddr
ought
sins
ome
regi
ons,t
hreateningwaters
uppli
esandagr
icul
ture.

Ri
si
ngSeaLevel
s

Ther
malexpansi
onofwar mi
ngoceanwaterandt
hemel t
ingofgl
aci
ersandi
ces
heet
scaus
e
seal
evel
storis
e,inc
reas
ingcoas
talf
loodi
nganderos
ion.

Ec
osys
tem Di
srupt
ion

Changesi
ntemperat
ureandoceanchemi
str
y( oc
eanacidi
fi
cat
ionfr
om absorbi
ngCO2)put
st
ressonhabi
tat
s,l
eadi
ngtolossofbi
odi
vers
ityandspeci
esexti
nct
ionri
sks.