1. Causes
1.1. Generating power
1.1.1. burning fossil fuels ( coal, oil, or gas) causes a large chunk of global emissions - carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.
1.2. Manufacturing goods
1.3. Cutting down forests
1.3.1. Cutting down forests to create farms or pastures, or for other reasons, causes emissions, since trees, when they are cut, release the carbon they have been storing.
1.4. Using transportation
1.4.1. Most cars, trucks, ships, and planes run on fossil fuels. That makes transportation a major contributor of greenhouse gases, especially carbon-dioxide emissions.
1.5. Producing food
1.5.1. Producing food causes emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases in various ways, including through deforestation and clearing of land for agriculture and grazing, digestion by cows and sheep, the production and use of fertilizers and manure for growing crops, and the use of energy to run farm equipment or fishing boats, usually with fossil fuels.
1.6. Powering buildings
1.6.1. Globally, residential and commercial buildings consume over half of all electricity. As they continue to draw on coal, oil, and natural gas for heating and cooling, they emit significant quantities of greenhouse gas emissions.
1.7. Consuming too much
2. Effects
2.1. A warming, rising ocean
2.2. Hotter temperatures
2.2.1. As greenhouse gas concentrations rise, so does the global surface temperature.
2.3. More severe storms
2.3.1. As temperatures rise, more moisture evaporates, which exacerbates extreme rainfall and flooding, causing more destructive storms.
2.4. Increased drought
2.4.1. Global warming exacerbates water shortages in already water-stressed regions and is leading to an increased risk of agricultural droughts affecting crops, and ecological droughts increasing the vulnerability of ecosystems.
2.5. Loss of species
2.5.1. Climate change poses risks to the survival of species on land and in the ocean. These risks increase as temperatures climb.
2.6. Not enough food
2.7. More health risks
2.7.1. Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity. Climate impacts are already harming health, through air pollution, disease, extreme weather events, forced displacement, pressures on mental health, and increased hunger and poor nutrition in places where people cannot grow or find sufficient food.
2.8. Poverty and displacement
2.8.1. Climate change increases the factors that put and keep people in poverty. Floods may sweep away urban slums, destroying homes and livelihoods. Heat can make it difficult to work in outdoor jobs. Water scarcity may affect crops.