Climate Change
Features of climate change
Evidence of climate change
The enhanced greenhouse effect
When Natural, finite fuel formed from the remains of living organisms, eg oil, coal and natural gas. are burned, e.g. in cars and aeroplanes, gases such as carbon dioxide are released which enter the atmosphere. Although these gases have always been present, their concentration is gradually increasing as more fossil fuels are burned.
The build-up of these so-called The gases responsible for global warming and climate change - carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons). act like a blanket and trap heat inside the Earth's The layers of gases that surround the Earth. The important gases in the atmosphere are nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide.. This is the enhanced The retention of heat in the atmosphere caused by the build-up of greenhouse gases. and causes an increase in global temperatures also known as global warming.
Variations in global temperature
This graph shows that the overall trend, since the 1970s is an increase in global surface temperature. In other words, our Earth is getting warmer.
Evidence for global warming - sea level change
