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Climate change and global warming - There is an important difference between climate change and global warming. Of course, the Earth has naturally warmed up and become colder during other eras. But such cycles have always been much slower, taking millions of years.

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Global warming and climate change -

The difference now is that within a period of 200 years, we are reaching levels that in the past prompted extinctions. Worrying, eh?

(Photo: Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)

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The Industrial Revolution - The advent of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century marked the turning point, when emissions of greenhouse effect gases entering the atmosphere began to soar. So, too, did population growth.

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What are greenhouse gases? - Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are called greenhouse gases. These include carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor.

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Carbon dioxide emissions - According to data compiled in 2015 by the International Energy Agency, China emitted the most carbon dioxide from the combustion of coal, natural gas, oil, and other fuels. Pictured is Shanghai, blanketed by smog.

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Heavy pollution - A Chinese man wears a protective face mask as he passes by the CCTV building in Beijing on a day of heavy pollution.

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Contributors to carbon dioxide emissions - The United States is the second largest contributor to carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. India, Russia, and Japan rank third, fourth, and fifth respectively.

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Planetary destabilization - The World Economic Forum's 2018 Global Risk Report warns that we are on the brink of crossing ecological boundaries and reaching tipping points in climate and ecosystems. The result is a possible acceleration of planetary destabilization.

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Planetary destabilization - It lists ecological collapse and biodiversity loss among the top 10 risks in term of impact.

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Rain forest destruction - Rain forest destruction contributes to climate change. Trees store carbon dioxide as they grow. Clearing and burning forests releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

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Rain forest destruction - Pictured is an area of the Amazon rain forest that has been slashed and burned standing next to a section of virgin forest.

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Threat to wildlife - According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the burgeoning pace of global average temperature puts approximately half of all flora and fauna at risk of extinction—an alarming prediction!

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Glacial melt - A grim statistic published by the National Park Service cites the effect of glacial melt in Glacier National Park, in the USA. In 1910 the park was home to around 150 glaciers. By June 2017, just 26 remained, and the number continues to shrink.

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The threat of melting land ice - Did you know that melting sea ice doesn't raise sea level—it's already in the water—but melting land ice does. Scientists have calculated that the ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica hold enough ice to raise seas more than 60 m (200 ft).

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Climate change and crop yields - A report published in the journal Science predicts that a warming planet will see larger swarms of hungrier insects devour millions more tons of rice, maize, and wheat crops globally by 2050.

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Climate change and crop yields - Warmer weather increases insect metabolism, therefore increasing appetite. As crop sizes lessen, food prices will rise, with the poor most affected. The impact on the environment will be marked.

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Coral bleaching - Over the last 30 years, the world has lost half its coral reefs, states the National Wildlife Federation. In 2015 alone, 12% of the world's reefs were bleached.

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Coral bleaching - High ocean temperatures have lingered for the last three years, a phenomenon that experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration note is only now beginning to dissipate.

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Increasing carbon dioxide levels - Did you know that burning 3.78 liters (1 gallon) of gasoline spews 8,908 grams (1 pound) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere?

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Increasing carbon dioxide levels - NASA Earth Observatory states that the amount of carbon dioxide is higher than at any time in the last 800,000 years. Furthermore, the Earth's average temperature is rising exponentially.

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Rising sea levels - Average sea level is predicted to rise 0.30 to 1.82 m (one to six ft) by the end of this century, according to NASA. The aftermath of hurricanes like Katrina (pictured) give an idea of the devastation that rising sea levels can cause.

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Rising sea levels -

The rate of sea level rise will depend on several variables—the rate of increase in greenhouse gas emissions, for example, and especially how ice sheets will respond to warming air and ocean water.

(Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Rising global temperatures - According to a 2017 Reuters report, world temperatures could rise 15 percent more than expected this century. 

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Heatwave records - National Geographic reminds us that the heat in 2016 broke the historic record set in 2015, which broke the one from 2014—a clear warming trend!

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Greenhouse gases are nothing new - Swedish scientist and Nobel laureate Svante Arrhenius (1859–1927) predicted in 1896 that carbon dioxide from coal burning would warm the planet.

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Increasing disasters - According to National Geographic worldwide, the number of climate-related disasters has more than tripled since 1980.

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Killer heat - Remember the dangerous heatwave that killed some 70,000 people in Europe in 2003? That should have been a once-in-500-years event, reminds National Geographic. Instead, it has become a once-in-40-years event.

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Killed off by climate change -

The rat-like Bramble Cay melomys vanished in 2016 from its habitat on a single island in Australia's Torres Strait, the victim of natural forces including rising seas. Scientists have declared it extinct, the first documented case of a mammal being driven to extinction by climate change.

(Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-3.0 AU)

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The Paris Agreement -

In December 2015, 194 countries signed up to the Paris Agreement, pledging to try and keep the increase in global average temperature below 2°C (35.6°F).

(Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY 2.0)

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What will come of the future? -

The hope is to limit the increase to 1.5°C (34.7°F), since this would substantially reduce the risks and effects of climate change.

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