The natural world is already feeling the effects of climate change. It is evident in melting glaciers, rising sea levels, dying coral reefs and extreme weather conditions such as heatwaves and floods. Global warming threatens wildlife and its habitats, water supplies and agriculture, as well as the great forests of the world. Climate change affects all of us - and we all need to be part of the solution. We are undoubtedly all part of the problem, given that it is man's activities that are causing changes to the Earth's climate. This process is directly linked to the burning of fossil fuels - both coal and oil products, such as diesel and petrol. These fossil fuels have acted as carbon stores for millions of years and now as they are burnt CO_2 is released into the atmosphere, increasing the greenhouse effect and causing global warming. This process is called the 'greenhouse effect' because, just as the glass traps heat in a greenhouse, CO_2 traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere, it is a delicate balance: too little CO_2 and the Earth's atmosphere would cool, making life as we know it difficult, while too much causes a rising temperature: global warming.
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