Background

Time Series Plots of CO2 and Temperature Over the Past Century

Over the past 150 years, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has dramatically increased due to human activities such as driving cars and burning coal and oil for energy. This increase in CO2 in the atmosphere is significant to humans and most all living things on Earth because CO2 acts to keep the Earth warm by absorbing outgoing thermal radiation and re-radiating it back to the surface. This is the so-called Greenhouse Effect. Higher amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere will lead to warmer temperatures in most places around the world. But scientists are not certain how exactly this change will affect the climate and organisms living on Earth.

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