Climate Change and the Carbon Cycle

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in global temperature and weather patterns. While climate has varied naturally throughout Earth's history, the rapid warming observed since the Industrial Revolution is driven by human activities that raise atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. Understanding climate change requires linking the carbon cycle to the physics of how the atmosphere traps heat.

The Greenhouse Effect

The greenhouse effect is a natural process that keeps Earth warm enough to support life. Incoming short-wavelength solar radiation passes through the atmosphere and warms the planet's surface. The surface re-emits energy as longer-wavelength infrared (heat) radiation. Greenhouse gases absorb some of this outgoing infrared radiation and re-radiate it in all directions