What Is Climate Change?

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such shifts can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions.

But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.

Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures.

The main greenhouse gases that are causing climate change include carbon dioxide and methane. These come from using gasoline for driving a car or coal for heating a building, for example. Clearing land and cutting down forests can also release carbon dioxide.

Agriculture, oil and gas operations are major sources of methane emissions. Energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture and land use are among the main sectors causing greenhouse gases.

Climate Change in 2023

The emissions that cause climate change come from every part of the world and affect everyone, but some countries produce much more than others.

The seven biggest emitters alone (China, the United States of America, India, the European Union, Indonesia, the Russian Federation, and Brazil) accounted for about half of all global greenhouse gas emissions in 2020.

1 - According to CNN, 2023 is set to be the hottest year on record, with a significant margin. The average temperature from January to November 2023 was 15.1°C (59.2°F), which is a 1.46°C (2.63°F) increase from pre-industrial levels. This is a larger increase than the same period in 2016, which was the previous warmest year.

2 - According to scientists, 2023 is the hottest year on record, with every month from June to November being the hottest ever recorded globally. This is due to a combination of human-caused climate change and El Niño.

3 - Extreme weather - According to a report from the Centre for Science and Environment, India experienced extreme weather on 86% of days from January to September 2023.

4 - Record-breaking temperatures - A series of deadly heat waves and record-breaking temperatures hit several continents in 2023.

5 - Record-breaking carbon emissions - Researchers estimate that the world's emissions of carbon dioxide will exceed 40 billion tons in 2023, including nearly 37 billion tons from fossil fuels.

6 - Hockey stick graphs present the global or hemispherical mean temperature record of the past 500 to 2000 years as shown by quantitative climate reconstructions based on climate proxy records. These reconstructions have consistently shown a slow long term cooling trend changing into relatively rapid warming in the 20th century, with the instrumental temperature record by 2000 exceeding earlier temperatures.