A global warming trend driven by humans’ emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases is affecting Earth’s climate: glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking, rivers and lakes are becoming warmer and changing their shape, and plant and animal geographic ranges are shifting. Warmer air also increases the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, which can lead to heavy rains and exacerbate the damage caused by tropical storms and hurricanes.
Human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, are responsible for most of the current change in Earth’s temperature, and scientists have a high degree of confidence that this warming is human-caused. Climate change has also been affected by natural factors, such as solar changes and ocean patterns, but their impact is much less than human-caused warming.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), if human-caused emissions continue at their present rate, it is likely that the global average temperature will rise by about 3 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial temperatures in the near future. However, with major cuts in emissions, the IPCC says it is possible to keep the global temperature increase below 2 degrees Fahrenheit.
All of us are already feeling the effects of climate change, including decreased food production, more flooding and wildfires, reduced access to clean drinking water, higher rates of heart disease and respiratory illnesses, and increased mortality from injuries during natural disasters and malnutrition due to famine. These impacts are especially acute for communities of color, the indigenous and low-income. This is because climate change disproportionately affects communities that have done the least to cause it, due to environmental racism and inequalities built into housing, transportation, and employment systems.