Climate change
The global warming is increasing the average temperature of the earth caused by emissions of greenhouse gases produced by human activities.
The global warming is causing climate change in which, in addition to increasing the temperature, other changes are occurring as:
- Sea level rise.
- Melting of mountain glaciers.
- Decrease in the frozen surface in Greenland and the Arctic.
- Droughts, hurricanes, heavy rainfall, floods, heat waves, etc.
- Change of habitat of animal and plant species.
But this climate change is not the only time that the climate has changed in Earth's history. In the Quaternary, for example, there have been four great glaciations that have alternated with other interglacial periods of warmer climate. Or in the Mesozoic, that the temperature was 5 ºC higher than the current average temperature. In both cases, the temperature only varied 5 ºC above and below the current temperature, and its effects were very noticeable.
These climatic changes had natural causes, such as variations in the Earth's orbit, variability of the energy emitted by the Sun, the distribution of the continents by Plate Tectonics, or volcanic activity, which caused the average temperature to change. But in current climate change, the main cause is the action of human being that is increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which retain part of the infrared radiation emitted by the Earth and increase its average temperature between 1.5 and 4.5 ºC.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change regularly assesses the state of climate change, its causes, impacts and possible responses.
Climate change is a very serious problem and, although there are some scientists who deny it, it seems necessary to take the necessary measures to avoid the increase in greenhouse gases.
También llamado Panel Intergubernamental del Cambio Climático, conocido por el acrónimo en inglés IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)