What is the summary of climate change?
The Short Answer: Climate change describes a change in the average conditions — such as temperature and rainfall — in a region over a long period of time. NASA scientists have observed Earth’s surface is warming, and many of the warmest years on record have happened in the past 20 years.
How do we know what we know about climate change?
Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. This body of data, collected over many years, reveals the signals of a changing climate.
What is the policy on climate change?
Global policies According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to keep global warming below 2 °C, emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) must be halved by 2050 (compared with 1990 levels).
What policies could help climate change?
Several policy instruments can help put a price on GHG emissions: carbon or energy taxes, the removal of environmentally harmful subsidies, tradable permit schemes and the project-based flexibility mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
What is the main idea of climate change?
What Is Climate Change? Climate change refers to the long-term changes in global temperatures and other characteristics of the atmosphere. We can see and measure climate changes around the world. Global temperature is warming, weather patterns are changing, polar ice is melting, and sea level is rising.
How does climate change affect us?
Human health is vulnerable to climate change. The changing environment is expected to cause more heat stress, an increase in waterborne diseases, poor air quality, and diseases transmitted by insects and rodents. Extreme weather events can compound many of these health threats.
Who is responsible for climate change?
Humans are increasingly influencing the climate and the earth’s temperature by burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests and farming livestock. This adds enormous amounts of greenhouse gases to those naturally occurring in the atmosphere, increasing the greenhouse effect and global warming.
How can government policies improve climate change?
Governments can make a difference by supporting small local producers who, unlike large factory farms, employ sustainable practices, care about land restoration, benefit nearby communities, and make animals and crops more resilient to climate change.