Causes for Climate Change

When the sunlight enters the earth, some of it is reflected to outer space, and the rest is absorbed, which eventually reflects as heat radiation. The atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) absorbs the heat and radiates it back to the earth's surface warming up the planet, that is, the CO2 acts like a blanket over the earth, which stays in the atmosphere over a thousand years. Thus, more CO2 would make the blanket thicker and the planet warmer. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has been around 300 ppm (parts per million) or lower before the industrial revolution. The level of atmospheric CO2 is much higher today due to unchecked carbon pollution from fossil fuels during the industrial period.

This excess CO2 is trapping more heat, making global temperature to rise, and causing climate to change. Today, the amount of C02 is 415 ppm - the last time C02 reached this level was 3 million years ago when the temperature was 2°–3°C higher than during the time before industrialization, and the sea level was 50 - 80 feet higher than today.