Over the past century, our world has become hotter and hotter. The average temperature has gone up by 2 degrees Fahrenheit, and the past five years have been the hottest in hundreds of years. As the temperature increases, so do the impacts it has on the world.

This process of the world heating up is called climate change. Climate is the weather conditions expected, or likely to happen, in a certain area at different times of the year. Climate change is the change in these expectations over time.

Scientists have been able to predict these changes by studying the climate over time. 

They use tools such as satellites, and machines that orbit Earth, to collect data. They have used this information to find that Earth is getting warmer.

Since then, scientists have worked on trying to figure out just exactly why this warming was happening. After lots of research, scientists came to the conclusion that this change was caused by humans. This unusual change in our climate is occurring as a result of what we have released into the atmosphere.

The atmosphere is the blanket or layer of gases that surround Earth. It is important because it keeps us warm, gives us oxygen to breathe, and it creates weather.

Our planet is kept warm through a process called the greenhouse effect that occurs in the atmosphere. A greenhouse is a building that lets parts of sunlight in for a plant to grow. Our atmosphere acts in a very similar way.

When sunlight hits Earth, it passes through the atmosphere first. 

Some of this sunlight is allowed through, while some of it is kept and stored by different greenhouse gases. This is a natural process that helps keep our planet warm, but not too warm.

However, human activities have changed and altered the way sunlight passes through our atmosphere. Many daily activities done by humans involve the burning of fossil fuels, which are natural fuels formed from the remains of life forms. This burning produces gases that are then released into the atmosphere.

When humans send gases into the atmosphere, the natural amount of greenhouse gases changes.  

With more greenhouse gases than usual, more heat is trapped inside. This has caused the warming that we see on our planet.

As more inventions and technology have been created, humans have begun to let out more gases into the atmosphere. Technology needs the energy to work, and this is commonly done by burning fossil fuels. This then releases large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which are called emissions.

Emissions are created from many different human activities. A major example is cars, trucks, and planes which form 60% of total emissions. These ways of transportation are big contributors because they burn gasoline and diesel.

Aside from transportation, greenhouse gas emissions are created nearly everywhere you look. Other emissions come from farms, factories, and even households. Simple things such as the light in your room involve the burning of fossil fuels.

The most common greenhouse gas produced by human activities is carbon dioxide. Just like many other greenhouse gases, it is created through the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil.

Once it is released into the atmosphere, it remains for quite some time. This results in a longer period of heat being trapped inside of our planet.

Compared to other greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide creates a much bigger problem. 

When greenhouse gases produced by humans enter the atmosphere, they also change the weather that we would normally see. 

The change in our climate has resulted in heavy precipitation and storms, worsening droughts, and severe heat waves.

In many areas, climate change has caused rain and snow to fall much more commonly. This is due to the warming of the ocean and more water being evaporated. Not only does this result in heavy precipitation, but it causes more storms along the coast, such as hurricanes, as well.

Droughts are periods of time with small amounts of rain. They have become worse since our planet started warming. With warmer temperatures, more water is evaporated out of the soil. This makes droughts worse because the land needs more water than usual, and without enough water, the soil dries out.

Heat waves have become much more severe with the rise of global temperatures. Heat waves are periods of time in which temperatures are much hotter than usual. Climate change has not only made these periods much hotter, but they have also made them longer.

The changes in Earth’s climate have placed impacts on many parts of the world. The environment faces many threats as a result of the impacts of climate change.

In the arctic, impacts caused by climate change are being faced much worse than other places in the world.

 The environment there is warming much faster, and the warmer temperatures are causing sheets of ice to melt which were home to many animals. Melting of these sheets has also caused the sea level to rise, which poses threats as well.