Scientists say that global warming can cause catastrophic consequences for the planet.
Human activities have increased the emission of carbon dioxide, which has increased the temperature.
Among the possible consequences are extreme weather conditions and melting polar ice.
The situation is likely to worsen in the coming decades, but urgent measures can limit the worst effects of climate change.
What is climate change?
Climate change is a long-term change in average temperatures and weather conditions on Earth.
The average temperature of the Earth is about 15 degrees Celsius, but in the past it was known to be much higher and much lower.
The climate has natural fluctuations, but scientists say the temperature is rising faster now than in most of the past.
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Solar energy that is emitted back into space from the Earth's surface is absorbed by greenhouse gases and re-emitted in all directions.
This simultaneously heats the lower atmosphere and the surface of the planet.
Without this effect, the Earth would be about 30 degrees Celsius colder and a very inaccessible place for life.
This phenomenon is known as climate change or global warming.

Are humans causing climate change?
Climate has changed throughout Earth's history.
But natural patterns cannot explain why there has been rapid warming over the past century.
These recent climate changes are caused by humans.
This is mainly due to the heavy use of fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas - in homes, factories and transport.
When fossil fuels burn, they release greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2).
This traps extra energy in the atmosphere near the Earth's surface, leading to warming of the planet.
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, when people started burning large amounts of fossil fuels, the amount of carbon dioxide has increased by about 50 percent.
What are the effects of climate change so far?
The world is now about 1,1 degrees Celsius warmer than at the end of the 19th century.
This change has a huge impact on the environment, such as:
- more frequent and intense extreme weather, such as heat waves and heavy rainfall
- rapid melting of glaciers and ice sheets, which affects sea level rise
- huge decline in Arctic sea ice and ocean warming
- people's lives are also changing - for example, parts of East Africa recently suffered the worst drought in 40 years, putting more than 20 million people at risk of severe hunger.
- in 2022, European heat waves caused an abnormal increase in deaths.
How will future climate changes affect the world?
The more temperatures increase, the worse the impacts of climate change will be.
Limiting the long-term increase in temperature to 1,5 degrees Celsius is crucial, according to a study by the United Nations' climate body IPCC.

Scientists are not entirely sure, but the impact of global warming of two degrees Celsius compared to 1.5 implies:
- Extremely warm days would be an average of four degrees warmer at mid-latitudes
- Sea level rise would be 0,1 meter higher than at 1,5 degrees
- More than 99 percent of coral reefs would be lost compared to 70-90 percent at 1,5 degrees
- The Arctic Ocean would be free of sea ice in summer at least once every 10 years, compared to every 100 years
- Twice the number of plants and vertebrates would be exposed to unsuitable climatic conditions in more than half of the area where it lives
- Several hundred million more people could be exposed to climate-related risks and vulnerable to poverty by 2050 than at 1,5 degrees Celsius
The limit of 1,5 degrees Celsius exists to avoid crossing the so-called "tipping points".
Beyond these points, changes could accelerate and become irreversible, such as the collapse of the Greenland ice sheet.
However, it is not clear exactly where these tipping points are located.
Climate change greatly affects around 3,3 to 3,6 billion people, according to the IPCC.
People living in poorer countries are expected to be hardest hit because they will have fewer means to adapt.
This has led to questions about fairness, as these countries emit a small percentage of greenhouse gases.

What are greenhouse gases?
The greenhouse gas with the greatest impact on warming is water vapor. But it stays in the atmosphere for only a few days.
Carbon dioxide (CO2), however, lingers much longer. It would take hundreds of years to return to pre-industrial levels, and natural reservoirs such as the oceans can only absorb so much.
Most human-produced carbon dioxide emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels.
When carbon-absorbing forests are cut down and left to rot or burned, that stored carbon is released and contributes to global warming.
Since the Industrial Revolution began around 1750, carbon dioxide levels have risen by more than 30 percent.
The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 800.000 years.
Other greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide are also released through human activities, but they are much less abundant than carbon dioxide.

What are governments doing about climate change?
In an agreement signed in Paris in 2015, nearly 200 countries pledged to try to keep global warming to 1,5 degrees Celsius.
In order to achieve this, zero CO2 emissions should be achieved by 2050.
Net zero CO2 emissions means reducing greenhouse gases as much as possible and removing all remaining emissions from the atmosphere.
Most countries have or are considering net zero targets.
However, greenhouse gas levels are still rising rapidly and the world is "likely" to warm by more than 1,5 degrees Celsius, the IPCC says.
Progress has been made in some areas, such as the use of renewable energies and electric vehicles.
World leaders meet every year to discuss their own climate change.
The next summit (COP28) will be held in the United Arab Emirates in November and December 2023.
What can individuals do?
Big changes have to come from governments and companies, but small changes by individuals can also help:
- use less energy
- improve home insulation and energy efficiency
- switch to electric vehicles or use public transport
- switch from central heating to using heat pumps
- eat less red meat
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