What are the main threats of climate change?

The main threats of climate change, stemming from the rising temperature of Earth’s atmosphere
include rising sea levels, ecosystem collapse and more frequent and severe weather.

Rising temperatures from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions affects planet-wide systems
in various ways. For example, it warms the polar regions and the oceans, which melts ice cover
at the poles and causes sea level rise. Climate change affects ocean habitats by lowering oxygen,
decreasing phytoplankton (little plants that serve as the base of marine food chains) and killing
coral reefs.

The warming of the atmosphere affects weather patterns, causing more frequent and severe
storms and droughts across many global regions. Higher temperatures are affecting the length of
seasons and in some places, are already crossing safe levels for ecosystems and humans .

All of these impacts, and many, many others will become more severe if we don’t act to stop
greenhouse gas

Is climate change caused by humans?

Yes, over 97% of scientist agree that humans cause climate change. Humanity’s accelerated
burning of fossil fuels and deforestation (forests are key parts of the planet’s natural carbon
management systems) have led to rapid increases of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and
global warming.
Scientists have known for centuries that gases in Earth’s atmosphere like carbon dioxide and
methane act as a greenhouse, preventing a certain amount of heat radiation from escaping back to
space. The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the warmer it gets.

Over Earth’s history, carbon dioxide levels fluctuate due to volcanic activity or the carbon cycle
(animals and bacteria breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide while plants do the
opposite).

However, the rises in temperature and carbon dioxide levels we’ve seen in the past century are
extreme and are accelerating. The rate of carbon emissions are the highest they’ve been in 66
million years and the amount of warming in the coming decades is expected to be 250 times
greater than the average warming during the past century

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/climate-change

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ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Climate Change
Climate change is a long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns. Often climate change
refers specifically to the rise in global temperatures from the mid-20th century to present.

Climate is sometimes mistaken for weather. But climate is different from weather because it is
measured over a long period of time, whereas weather can change from day to day, or from year
to year. The climate of an area includes seasonal temperature and rainfall averages, and wind
patterns. Different places have different climates. A desert, for example, is referred to as an arid
climate because little water falls, as rain or snow, during the year. Other types of climate include
tropical climates, which are hot and humid, and temperate climates, which have warm summers
and cooler winters.

Climate change is the long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns in a
place. Climate change could refer to a particular location or the planet as a whole. Climate
change may cause weather patterns to be less predictable. These unexpected weather patterns can
make it difficult to maintain and grow crops in regions that rely on farming because expected
temperature and rainfall levels can no longer be relied on. Climate change has also been
connected with other damaging weather events such as more frequent and more intense
hurricanes, floods, downpours, and winter storms.

In polar regions, the warming global temperatures associated with climate change have meant ice
sheets and glaciers are melting at an accelerated rate from season to season. This contributes
to sea levels rising in different regions of the planet. Together with expanding ocean waters due
to rising temperatures, the resulting rise in sea level has begun to damage coastlines as a result of
increased flooding and erosion.

The cause of current climate change is largely human activity, like burning fossil fuels, like
natural gas, oil, and coal. Burning these materials releases what are called greenhouse gases into
Earth’s atmosphere. There, these gases trap heat from the sun’s rays inside
the atmosphere causing Earth’s average temperature to rise. This rise in the planet's temperature
is called global warming. The warming of the planet impacts local and regional
climates. Throughout Earth's history, climate has continually changed. When occuring naturally,
this is a slow process that has taken place over hundreds and thousands of years. The human
influenced climate change that is happening now is occuring at a much faster rate.