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Geosciences LibreTexts

15.6 Climate Change

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  • Climate Change Overview

    Climate change is a change in weather patterns that lasts for an extended period of time. Natural causes alone cannot explain all of these changes. Human activities are contributing to climate change by releasing carbon dioxide( CO2) and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year. The more greenhouse gases we emit, the larger the future climate changes will be1.

    Causes of Climate Change

    Earth's temperature hinges on the energy balance of the Earth's system. The energy balance can be explained by incoming energy from the sun is absorbed by the Earth, Earth warmms.

    Factors that have caused Earth's climate to change many times:

    Greenhouse effect which the amount of heat retained by Earth's atmosphere. Greenhouse effects works by the solar energy