Why is the world warming up

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Why is the world warming up?

A brief answer to one of the key questions about climate change: Why is the world warming up? (Written by Myles Allen, David Biello and George Zaidan)

Transcript

Why is the world warming up? Let's think of Earth for just a moment as a greenhouse. Every second, a huge amount of energy smashes into our greenhouse. Our atmosphere, the glass roof and walls, reflects some of that energy, but most of it passes right through and heats everything up. Much of that heat used to escape back into space, keeping us at a stable, warm temperature.

But then something changed. Humans began to spew enough carbon dioxide to fill billions of greenhouses each day. What does all that greenhouse gas do? It makes the glass of our greenhouse thicker. Thicker glass means heat escapes into space much more slowly. And don't forget, energy from the sun is still streaming in just as quickly as before.

The result is a planet with temperatures too hot for our liking and, eventually... living.

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