Climate is the average weather in a place over many years. Climate change is a shift in those average conditions.

The Earth is now in a period of rapid climate change, with global temperatures rising.

Yes. But not at this pace. 

 The Earth is now in a period of rapid climate change, with global emissions and temperatures rising. The Earth is now about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s. Many of the warmest years on records have happened in the past two decades.

Within its 4.5-billion-year history, the Earth has experienced periods of lesser and greater warmth. These shifting temperatures have been determined by variations in Earth's orbit around the sun. But the warming of the past centuries is unprecedented in recent geologic history.

Due to its rapid development, current global warming is heavily and rapidly affecting ecosystems.

As species have no time to adapt to the new climate environments, climate change could lead to a biodiversity mass extinction.

Since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels. 
Burning coal and oil generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures.

Greenhouse effect: a natural process that warms the Earth's surface. 

When sunlight reaches the atmosphere, some of it is reflected back to space and the rest is absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases. 

Human activities cause the atmosphere to trap more heat than it used to.

Yes. When human activities create greenhouse gases, Earth warms. This matters because oceans, land, air, plants, animals and energy from the Sun all have an effect on one another. And we all depend on each other.

Limiting global temperature rise to no more than 1.5°C would help us avoid the worst climate impacts and maintain a livable climate. Yet the current path of carbon dioxide emissions could increase global temperatures by as much as 4.4°C by the end of the century.

Temperature rise is only the beginning of the story. The consequences of climate change now include, among others, intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity.

The 100 least-emitting countries generate 3 per cent of total emissions. The 10 countries with the largest emissions contribute 68 per cent. Everyone must take climate action, but people and countries creating more of the problem have a greater responsibility to act first.

Climate change can affect our health, ability to grow food, housing, safety and work. Some of us are already more vulnerable to climate impacts, such as people living in small island nations and other developing countries.

Why? Because conditions like sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion have advanced to the point where whole communities have had to relocate, and protracted droughts are putting people at risk of famine. 

Many climate change solutions can deliver economic benefits while improving our lives and protecting the environment. Three broad categories of action are: cutting emissions, adapting to climate impacts and financing required adjustments.

While a growing coalition of countries is committing to net zero emissions by 2050, about half of emissions cuts must be in place by 2030 to keep warming below 1.5°C. Fossil fuel production must decline by roughly 6 per cent per year between 2020 and 2030.