Climate Change What Everyone Needs to Know

Cover — Climate Change — Copyright — Dedication — Contents — Preface — Acknowledgments — 1 Climate Science Basics — What is the greenhouse effect and how does it warm the Earth? — Why are scientists so certain the climate system is warming? — How does global warming increase sea levels and what has been observed to date? — Where does most of human-caused warming go? — What fraction of recent global warming is due to human causes versus natural causes? — How certain are climate scientists that humans are the primary cause of recent warning? — How do scientists know that recent climate change is primarily caused by human activities? — Why has the climate changed in the past, before there were human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? — What are the climate system’s amplifying feedbacks that turn a moderate initial warming into a big ultimate warming? — Is the current level of atmospheric CO2 concentration unprecedented in human history? — Are recent climatic changes unprecedented? — Has recent human-caused climate change been occurring faster or not as fast as scientists predicted? — Is there a difference between global warming and climate change? — What are the sources of the most important human-caused pollutants that drive global warming? — How does deforestation contribute to warming? — What is global warming potential and why is it different for various greenhouse gases? — Why does the rate of warming appear to vary from decade to decade? — Has global warming slowed down or paused in recent years? — Can we reach a point where emitting more CO2 into the air will not cause more climate change? — Have we already crossed tipping points (points of no return) in the climate system? — 2 Extreme Weather and Climate Change — What is the difference between weather and climate?.